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THE  RIGHT  HON.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE. 


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RIGHT    HON.   W.    E.   GLADSTONE. 


THE 


RIGHT    HONORABLE 


W.   E.  GLADSTONE. 


a  §)tulip  from  life. 


BY 

HENRY  W.  LUCY, 

AUTHOR    OF 

"A   DIARY   OF   TWO   PARLIAMENTS." 


BOSTON: 
ROBERTS     BROTHERS. 

1895. 


Copyright,  1895, 
By  Roberts  Brothers. 


All  rights  reserved. 


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^Inibcrsitg  Press: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridgh,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE. 


The  obvious  difficulty  of  writing  within  the  limits 
of  this  volume  a  sketch  of  the  career  of  Mr.  Gladstone 
is  the  superabundance  of  material.  The  task  is  akin 
to  that  of  a  builder  having  had  placed  at  his  disposal 
materials  for  a  palace,  with  instructions  to  erect  a 
cottage  residence,  leaving  out  nothing  essential  to 
the  larger  plan.  I  have  been  content,  keeping  this 
condition  in  mind,  rapidly  to  sketch,  in  chronological 
order,  the  main  course  of  a  phenomenally  busy  life, 
enriching  the  narrative  wherever  possible  with  auto- 
biographical scraps  to  be  found  in  the  library  of  Mr. 
Gladstone's  public  speeches,  supplementing  it  by  per- 
sonal notes  made  over  a  period  of  twenty  years, 
during  which  I  have  had  unusual  opportunities  of 
studying  the  subject. 

HENRY  W.  LUCY. 

Reform  Club, 

February  y  1895. 


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CONTENTS. 


Chapteb  Page 

I.    Boyhood 13 

II,     His  Kinsfolk 24 

III.  Member  for  Newark 37 

IV.  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 50 

V.     "Unmuzzled" 61 

VI.    Premier 68 

VII.    Throwing  up  the  Sponge 76 

VIII.    Pamphleteer 85 

IX.    The  Piery  Cross 89 

X.    Premier  Again 97 

XL    The  Bradlaugh  Blight 100 

XII.    The  Potjrth  Party Ill 

XIII.  Egypt 124 

XIV.  The  Penjdeh  Incident 133 

XV.    The  Irish  Party 140 

XVI.  Suspension  of  Thirty-seven  Members          .     .  146 

XVII.     Resignation  of  Mr.  Forster 154 

XVIII.    The  Kilmainham  Treaty 163 

XIX.    Gathering  Clouds 168 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Chaptek  Page 

XX.    The  Storm  Bursts 174 

XXI.    The  Stop-gap  Government 181 

XXII.     Home  Rule   . 191 

XXIII.  In  Opposition 203 

XXIV.  Fourth  Time  Premier 214 

XXV.    The  Bow  Unbent 222 

XXVI.    In  the  House  and  out       231 


u  ,      »       »  J 


MR.  GLADSTONE. 


A   STUDY   FROM   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BOYHOOD. 

Of  Mr.  Gladstone's  manifold  moods  there  was  none 
more  charming  to  the  House  of  Commons  than  that 
in  which  he  sometimes  chatted  with  it  on  a  Tuesday 
or  a  Friday  night.  This  happened  in  days  when 
such  opportunities  were  still  reserved  for  private 
members.  Neither  the  Leader  of  the  House  nor  the 
Leader  of  the  Opposition  had  direct  concern  in  what 
was  going  forward.  Ordinary  men  in  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's position  would  have  been  glad  to  make  the 
most  of  opportunity  for  comparative  rest.  For  him, 
Parliamentary  debate,  of  whatever  (^lipmnfon^  was, 
up  to  the  last,^rrcsistible.  Being  present,  he  list- 
ened with  flattering,  even  dangerous,  interest  to 
whosoever  might  be  speaking,  however  personally 
unimportant.  The  hon.  member,  chilled  by  inat- 
tention in  other  parts  of  the  House,  might,  in  Mr. 
Gladstone's  absence,  have  earlier  concluded  his 
remarks.  Finding  him  an  attentive,  apparently  an 
entranced,  listener,  he  went  on  to  the  fullest  limits 
of  his  notes. 


I'i  ,'  :  MR,.  .GLADSTONE. 

That  was  one  consequence  of  conscientious  habit 
on  the  part  of  the  great  Parliamentarian.  Another, 
not  infrequent,  was  that  he  himself  was  drawn  into 
the  debate,  forthwith  lifting  it  to  the  height  of  his 
own  stature,  luring  into  the  fray  other  Parliamentary 
giants  who  had  entered  the  House  innocent  of  inten- 
tion to  take  part  in  the  current  proceedings.  Com- 
plaint was  made  by  stern,  unbending  business  men 
that  debate  was  thus  unnecessarily  prolonged.  Com- 
pensation was  forthcoming  when,  as  sometimes  hap- 
pened on  these  occasions,  Mr.  Gladstone  indulged  in 
a  vein  of  reminiscence,  chatting  about  old  times  and 
faded  faces.  With  elbow  leaning  on  the  brass- 
bound  box,  he  spoke,  in  low  conversational  tone,  of 
Canning,  O'Connell,  Lord  Aberdeen,  Sir  James 
Graham,  Cobden,  and  others  whom  he  had  known 
and  worked  with  in  years  long  past.  The  scene 
ever  recalled  Priam  sitting  at  the  Scsean  gate  in 
company  with  the  seniors  of  the  Trojan  race  who  — 

Leaned  on  the  walls  and  basked  before  the  sun, 
Chiefs  who  no  more  in  bloody  fights  engage, 
But  wise  through  time  and  narrative  with  age, 
In  summer  days  like  grasshoppers  rejoice. 

This  charming  lapse  into  retrospect  has  sometimes 
occurred  to  Mr.  Gladstone  outside  the  House  of 
Commons,  supplying  his  future  biographer  with 
peeps  into  his  past,  of  otherwise  unattainable  pre- 
cision and  graphic  force.  Born  in  Liverpool  on  the 
29th  of  December,  1809,  he  revisited  the  city  eighty- 
three  years  later  to  the  very  month.  It  was  on  the 
3rd  of  December,  1892,  a  memorable  stage  in  a  mar- 


BOYHOOD.  15 

velloiis  career.  Once  more,  after  being  flung  into 
an  apparently  bottomless  pit,  Mr.  Gladstone,  undis- 
mayed, lightly  carrying  the  weight  of  fourscore 
years,  had,  practically  single-handed,  his  worst  ene- 
mies those  of  his  own  household,  stubbornly  fought 
his  way  back  to  power.  Conservative  Liverpool, 
having  done  its  best  to  defeat  the  abhorred  statesman 
at  the  polls,  welcomed  the  honored  son,  affectionately 
endowing  him  with  citizenship. 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  writer  to  be  present 
on  this  occasion,  as,  indeed,  he  has,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  chanced  to  be  within  hearing  of  all  the 
important  speeches  made  by  Mr.  Gladstone  in  Par- 
liament and  beyond  its  doors  during  the  last  twenty 
years.  A  man  of  singularly  strong  affection,  Mr. 
Gladstone  has  through  his  long  life  clung  to  his 
native  town.  "  I  am  hardly  a  Liverpool  man, "  he 
once  said,  "but  I  was  a  Liverpool  boy."  Standing 
on  the  platform  in  St.  George's  Hall,  facing  an 
enthusiastic  crowd,  memories  of  long  ago  teemed 
in  the  brain  of  the  youngest  citizen.  "Many  long 
years,"  he  said,  in  full,  rich  voice  that  made  music 
in  the  furthest  recesses  of  the  many-pillared  hall, 
"  have  separated  me  from  familiarity  with  the  com- 
munity of  Liverpool,  and  Liverpool  herself  has, 
within  these  years,  multiplied  and  transformed. 
When  my  recollections  of  her  were  most  familiar, 
she  was  a  town  of  one  hundred  thousand  persons, 
and  the  silver  cloud  of  smoke  which  floated  above 
her   resembled  that  which   might  appear   over  any 


16  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

secondary  borough  or  village  of  the  country.  I  refer 
to  the  period  between  1810  and  1820,  and  it  is 
especially  to  the  latter  part  of  that  period  that  my 
memory  extends.  I  used  as  a  small  boy  to  look 
southward  along  shore  from  my  father's  windows 
at  Seaforth  to  the  town.  In  those  days  the  space 
between  Liverpool  and  Seaforth  was  very  differently 
occupied.  Four  miles  of  the  most  beautiful  sands 
that  I  ever  knew  offered  to  the  aspirations  of  the 
youthful  rider  the  most  delightful  method  of  finding 
access  to  Liverpool,  and  he  had  the  other  induce- 
ment to  pursue  that  road,  that  there  was  no  other 
decent  avenue  to  the  town.  Bootle  I  remember  a 
wilderness  of  Sandhills.  I  have  seen  wild  roses 
growing  upon  the  very  ground  which  is  now  the 
centre  of  the  borough.  All  that  land  is  now  partly 
covered  with  residences,  and  partly  with  places  of 
business  and  industr3\  In  my  time  but  one  single 
house  stood  upon  the  space  between  Rimrose  brook 
and  the  town  of  Liverpool.  I  rather  think  it  was 
associated  with  the  name  of  Statham,  if  my  memory 
serves  me  right,  the  name  of  the  town  clerk  of 
Liverpool." 

Here  is  a  marvellous  mem  or  v.  He  sees  again  the 
solitary  house  standing  between  the  now  long-defiled 
Rimrose  brook  and  the  silver  cloud  of  smoke  which 
lay  over  the  potentialities  of  Liverpool,  and  even 
remembers  the  name  of  the  resident. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  earliest  recorded  recollection  was 
of  a  visit  paid  in  company  with  his  mother  to  Mrs. 


BOYHOOD.  17 

Hannah  More.  "I  believe,"  he  says,  "I  was  four 
years  old  at  the  time,  and  I  remember  that  she  pre- 
sented me  with  one  of  her  little  books  —  not  unin- 
teresting for  children  —  and  that  she  told  me  she 
gave  it  me  because  I  had  just  come  into  the  world 
and  she  was  just  going  out."  Hannah  More  was 
born  in  1745,  the  year  when  Prince  Charlie  won 
Edinburgh  and  triumphed  at  Prestonpans.  Round 
her  cradle  there  must  have  been  whispered  talk  of 
Culloden,  an  epoch  with  which  that  hand-shake  with 
Hannah  More  linked  the  greatest  figure  of  the  clos- 
ing years  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  personal  recollections  of  a  later 
war  which  had  its  Culloden  for  a  far  greater  soldier 
than  Charles  Edward  Stuart.  He  visited  Edinburgh 
when  he  was  five  years  old,  and  distinctly  remembers 
hearing  the  glass  in  the  windows  of  the  Royal  Hotel, 
at  which  his.  father  stayed,  rattle  to  the  roar  of  the 
guns  of  the  Castle  as  they  announced  one  of  the  steps 
in  the  progress  of  Napoleon  to  Elba.  He  does  not 
identify  the  particular  occasion.  It  was  in  all  prob- 
ability the  surrender  of  Paris  to  the  allies,  which 
took  place  on  the  31st  of  March,   1814. 

A  still  earlier  remini«t;Gnce  Mr.  Gladstone  once 
confided  to  me.  He  told  me  that,  sprawling  about 
on  the  nursery  floor  at  an  age  that  could  not  have 
exceeded  eighteen  months,  he  obtained,  and  at  the 
time  he  was  speaking  retained  over  a  lapse  of  eighty 
years,  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  pattern  of  his 
nurse's  dress. 


18  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

Of  another  member  of  the  domestic  household  in 
Rodney  Street,  Liverpool,  Mr.  Gladstone  has  a 
charming  story.  She  was  a  Welsh  girl,  fresh  from 
her  mountain  home,  and  confident  that  all  the  uni- 
verse moved  round  Snowdon.  It  was  just  after  Water- 
loo, and  all  the  talk  was  of  sieges  and  battles,  routs 
and  victories.  The  patriotic  Welsh  girl  made  so 
clear  to  the  little  Liverpool  boy  the  prominent  part 
Wales  had  played  in  the  Peninsular  War,  that  he 
never  forgot  it.  "  She  told  me,"  Mr.  Gladstone  says 
in  a  voice  still  unconsciously  awestruck,  "that  Sir 
Watkin  Williams  Wynn  sent  millions  of  men  to 
fight  Boney." 

"I  am  not  slow  to  claim  the  name  of  Scotchman," 
Mr.  Gladstone  told  a  delighted  audience  at  Dundee 
during  one  of  the  Midlothian  Campaigns,  "  and,  even 
if  I  were,  there  is  the  fact  staring  me  in  the  face 
that  not  a  drop  of  blood  runs  in  my  veins  except 
what  is  derived  from  Scottish  ancestry."  Neverthe- 
less, contiguity  to  Wales,  early  in  life  and  late,  has 
endeared  the  Principality  to  him.  "My  boyhood," 
he  told  an  audience  gathered  at  Wirral,  "  was  passed 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mersey  in  sight  of  Wales.  In 
those  days  I  was  a  fervent  admirer  of  Moel  Yammau 
and  other  Welsh  mountains.  But  as  to  getting  into 
Wales,  as  to  getting  from  Liverpool  to  Birkenhead, 
that  was  a  formidable  affair.  You  would  have  to 
hunt  about  to  hire  somebody  with  a  little  boat,  and 
he  would  have  had  to  put  off  from  the  Liverpool  side 
and  contend  with  the  strong  tide  of  the  Mersey  as 


BOYHOOD.  19 

best  he  could.  In  point  of  fact,  we  used  to  look 
across  the  Mersey  in  those  days  from  the  Lancashire 
coast  to  the  Cheshire  coast  very  much  as  a  man  looks 
now  —  or  rather  perhaps  with  more  sense  of  distance 
than  a  man  looks  now  —  from  the  Cliffs  of  Dover,  or 
from  the  pier  at  Folkestone,  across  to  the  Coast  of 
France.  '* 

Here  is  another  glimpse  of  prehistoric  Wales  inter- 
esting to  the  sojourner  at  Rhyl,  Llandudno,  and  the 
long  line  of  bathing-machine  towns  that  to-day 
cluster  on  the  north  coast.  "I  remember,"  says  Mr. 
Gladstone,  "paying  my  first  visit  to  North  Wales, 
travelling  along  the  North  Wales  coast  as  far  as 
Bangor  and  Carnarvon,  when  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  a  watering-place,  no  such  thing  as  a  house 
to  be  hired  for  the  purpose  of  those  visits  that  are 
now  paid  by  thousands  of  people  to  such  multitudes 
of  points  all  along  the  coast.  It  was  supposed  that 
if  ever  any  body  of  gentlemen  could  be  found  suffi- 
ciently energetic  to  make  a  railway  to  Holyhead, 
that  railway  could  not  possibly  pierce  the  country, 
and  must  be  made  along  the  coast,  and,  if  carried 
along  the  coast,  could  not  possibly  be  made  to  pa3^ 
So  firm  was  that  conviction  that  —  I  very  well  recol- 
lect the  day  —  a  large  and  important  deputation  of 
railway  leaders  went  to  London  and  waited  upon  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  who  was  then  Prime  Minister,  in  order 
to  demonstrate  to  him  that  it  was  totally  impossible 
for  them  to  construct  a  paying  line,  and  therefore  to 
impress  upon  his  mind  the  necessity  of  his  agreeing 


20  MR.    GLADSTONE, 

to  give  them  a  considerable  grant  out  of  the  consoli- 
dated fund.  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  a  very  circumspect 
statesman,  and  not  least  so  in  those  matters  in  which 
the  public  purse  was  concerned.  He  encouraged 
them  to  take  a  more  sanguine  view.  Whether  he 
persuaded  them  into  a  more  sanguine  tone  of  mind  I 
do  not  know.  This  I  know,  the  railway  was  made, 
and  we  now  understand  that  this  humble  railway, 
this  impossible  railway,  as  it  was  then  conceived,  is 
at  the  present  moment  the  most  productive  and 
remunerative  part  of  the  whole  vast  system  of  the 
North  Western  Company." 

Mr.  Gladstone  perfectly  remembers  the  old  coach- 
ing system,  the  decay  of  which  before  the  irresistible 
advance  of  the  steam  engine  he  speaks  of  not  with- 
out regret.  "The  system  was,"  he  says,  "raised  to 
the  highest  degree  of  perfection,  far  exceeding  that 
or  anything  of  the  kind  to  be  met  with  on  the  Conti- 
nent." At  Eton,  between  the  years  1820  and  1830, 
he  went  to  and  from  school  and  home  by  coach.  The 
coaches  were  changed  at  Birmingham.  "Our  coach," 
he  says,  "used  to  arrive  at  Birmingham  about  three 
or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  we  were  turned 
out  into  the  open  street  till  it  might  please  a  new 
coach  with  a  new  equipment  to  appear.  There  was 
no  building  in  the  town,  great  or  small,  public  or 
private,  at  that  period,  upon  which  it  was  possible 
for  a  rational  being  to  fix  his  eye  with  satisfaction." 

Of  later  date  are  his  recollections  of  Edinburgh. 
"I  knew  Edinburgh  in  the  days  of  Lord  Moncreilf, 


BOYHOOD.  21 

of  Dr.  Gordon,  of  Dr.  Thomson,  of  Bishop  Sandford, 
and  of  many  very  remarkable  men.  I  had  the  honor 
of  having  spent  many  weeks  in  Edinburgh  and  its 
neighborhood  with  a  man  whose  name  will  always 
remain  illustrious  as  perhaps  the  most  distinguished 
son  and  greatest  ornament  of  the  Presbyterian  sys- 
tem —  I  mean  Dr.  Chalmers.  I  have  heard  Dr. 
Chalmers  preach  and  lecture,  and  I  think  1  have 
heard  him  converse.  Being  a  man  entirely  of  Scotch 
blood,  I  am  very  much  attached  to  Scotland  and  like 
even  the  Scotch  accent.  But  not  the  Scotch  accent 
of  Dr.  Chalmers.  Undoubtedly  in  preaching  and 
delivery  it  was  a  considerable  impediment.  Not- 
withstanding that,  it  was  all  overborne  by  the  power 
of  the  man  in  preaching,  overborne  by  his  power 
which  melted  into  harmony  with  all  the  adjuncts  and 
incidents  of  the  man  as  a  whole ;  so  much  so  that, 
although  I  would  have  said  that  the  accent  of  Dr. 
Chalmers  was  distasteful,  yet  in  Dr.  Chalmers  him- 
self I  would  not  have  altered  it  in  the  smallest 
degree. " 

"It  is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say,"  Mr.  Glad- 
stone observed,  speaking  at  Dundee  in  1890,  "  that 
at  the  time  when  I  was  a  youth  of  ten  or  fifteen  years 
of  age,  there  was  hardly  anything  that  was  beautiful 
produced  in  this  country.  I  remember  at  a  period 
of  my  life,  when  I  was  about  eighteen,  I  was  taken 
over  to  see  a  silk  factory  in  Macclesfield.  At  that 
time  Mr.  Huskisson,  whose  name  ought  always  to  be 
remembered  with  respect   among   all   sound  econo- 


22  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

mists,  and  the  Government  of  Lord  Liverpool  had 
been  making  the  first  efforts,  not  to  break  down  — 
that  was  reserved  for  their  happier  followers  —  but 
to  lessen,  to  modify,  or  perhaps  I  should  say  to 
mitigate,  a  little  if  possible  the  protective  system. 
Down  to  the  period  of  Mr.  Huskisson  silk  handker- 
chiefs from  France  were  prohibited.  They  were 
largely  smuggled,  and  no  gentleman  went  over  to 
Paris  without,  if  he  could  manage  it,  bringing  back 
in  his  pockets,  his  purse,  his  portmanteau,  his  hat, 
or  his  great-coat,  handkerchiefs  and  gloves.  But 
Mr.  Huskisson  carried  a  law  in  which,  in  lieu  of  this 
prohibition  of  these  French  articles,  a  duty  of  thirty 
per  cent  was  imposed  on  them,  and  it  is  in  my  recol- 
lection that  there  was  a  keener  detestation  of  Mr. 
Huskisson,  and  a  more  violent  passion  roused  against 
him  in  consequence  of  that  mild,  initial  measure 
than  ever  was  associated  in  the  other  camp,  in  the 
Protectionist  camp,  within  the  career  of  Cobden  and 
Bright.  I  was  taken  to  this  manufactory,  and  they 
produced  the  English  silk  handkerchief  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  making,  and  which  they  thought  it  cruel 
to  be  competed  with  by  the  silk  handkerchiefs  of 
France,  although  even  before  they  were  allowed  to 
compete  the  French  manufacturer  had  to  pay  the  fine 
of  thirty  per  cent  on  the  value.  It  was  in  that  first 
visit  to  a  manufactory  in  Macclesfield  that  —  I  will 
not  say  I  became  a  Free  Trader,  for  it  was  ten  or 
fifteen  years  later  when  I  entered  into  the  full  faith 
of   that   policy  —  but    from   what   I   saw  then  there 


BOYHOOD.  23 

dawned  upon  my  mind  the  first  ray  of  light.  What 
I  thought  when  they  showed  me  these  handkerchiefs 
was,  '  How  detestable  they  really  are,  and  what 
in  the  world  can  be  the  object  of  coaxing,  nurs- 
ing, coddling  up  manufacturers  to  produce  goods 
such  as  those  which  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  of 
exhibiting. '  " 


CHAPTER   II. 

HIS   KINSFOLK. 

Sir  Bernard  Burke,  who  has  great  success  in  trac- 
ing far-reaching  lineages  for  men  who  achieve 
greatness,  has  been  able  to  find  the  blood  of  Henry 
III.  of  England  and  Robert  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland, 
in  the  veins  of  Mr.  Gladstone.  Still  more  interest- 
ing, possibly  more  authentic,  is  a  memorandum  I 
find  in  a  note  addressed  to  me  by  the  late  Mr.  W.  H. 
Gladstone.  Writing  from  Hawarden  Rectory,  under 
date  November  13th,  1881,  he  says:  "Through  my 
mother's  mother,  who  was  a  Neville  (Mary,  daughter 
of  the  second  Lord  Braybrooke)  my  father  becomes 
connected  with  Lord  Chatham,  Mr.  Pitt,  and  Mr. 
Grenville,  former  Prime  Ministers,  and  Mr.  Wind- 
ham, former  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer." 

Mr.  Gladstone's  father  was  a  merchant  in  Liver- 
pool, whither  he  had  gone  from  Leith,  where  Thomas 
Gladstone,  grandfather  of  William,  had  established 
himself  as  a  corn-merchant.  The  Gladstones  have, 
as  far  as  records  go,  been  remarkable  for  large 
families.  Mr.  Gladstone's  great-grandfather  (who, 
by  the  way,  spelled  his  name  "  Gledstanes  '')  had 
eleven  children.  His  fourth  son,  Thomas,  had  six- 
teen; and  it  will  best  indicate  the  social  and  com- 
mercial position  of  Mr,    Gladstone's  grandfather  to 


Ills  KINSFOLK.  25 

record  the  fact  that  lie  was  able  to  "  do  something  " 
for  his  seven  surviving  sons  as  they  successively 
started  in  business. 

John  Gladstone,  the  father  of  William  Ewart,  did 
not  hide  his  talent  in  a  napkin.  At  an  early  age  he 
settled  in  Liverpool  as  a  sort  of  clerk  in  the  house 
of  Corrie  &.  Co.,  a  firm  in  which  he  presently  became 
a  partner.  When,  some  sixteen  years  later,  the  firm 
of  Corrie,  Gladstone  &.  Bradshaw  was  dissolved, 
John  Gladstone  took  into  partnership  his  brother 
Robert,  and  began  with  fresh  ardor  to  extend  his 
commercial  operations.  The  new  firm  were  among 
the  earliest  traders  with  Russia,  and  they  snatched 
at  the  East  India  trade  when  the  monopoly  of  the  old 
East  India  Company  was  broken  down.  But  their 
principal  business  was  with  the  West  Indies,  where 
John  Gladstone  held  large  sugar  plantations,  —  a 
circumstance  which,  as  we  shall  see,  had  a  good  deal 
to  do  with  moulding  the  early  political  career  of  his 
illustrious  son. 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  proudly  fond  of  his  father. 
When  he  sojourned  in  St.  James's  Square  in  the 
closing  years  of  his  residence  in  London  he  had  hung 
up  in  the  dining-room  a  portrait  of  his  father, 
brought  from  Hawarden,  one  of  his  few  personal 
possessions  in  the  hired  mansion.  Speaking  about 
him  at  Leith,  where  John  Gladstone  had  served  an 
apprenticeship  in  his  father's  office,  he  said:  "I  will 
not  dwell  at  length  upon  the  personal  portraiture  of 
my  father.     I  may  presume  perhaps  to  say  this,  that 


26  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

while  it  is  only  for  the  world  to  look  upon  him 
mainly  in  the  light  of  an  active  and  successful  mer- 
chant, who,  like  many  merchants  of  the  country, 
distinguished  himself  by  an  energetic  philanthropy, 
so  far  as  his  children  are  concerned,  when  they 
think  of  him  they  can  remember  nothing  except  his 
extraordinary  claims  upon  their  profound  gratitude 
and  affection." 

In  a  later  year  the  illustrious  son  drew  this  graphic 
picture  of  a  strong  individuality :  "  His  eye  was  not 
dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated.  He  was  full  of 
bodily  and  mental  vigor.  Whatsoever  his  hand 
found  to  do,  he  did  it  with  his  might.  He  could 
not  understand  or  tolerate  those  who,  perceiving  an 
object  to  be  good,  did  not  at  once  actively  pursue  it. 
With  all  this  energy  he  joined  a  corresponding 
warmth  and,  so  to  speak,  eagerness  of  affection,  a 
keen  appreciation  of  humor,  in  which  he  found  a 
rest,  and  an  indescribable  frankness  and  simplicity 
of  character,  which,  crowning  his  own  qualities, 
made  him,  I  think  (and  I  strive  to  think  impartially), 
nearly,  or  quite,  the  most  interesting  old  man  I  have 
ever  known." 

The  Gladstones  as  a  family  always  had  a  supera- 
bundance of  energy,  which  carried  their  action 
beyond  the  limits  of  their  private  concerns.  We 
find  some  of  the  earlier  heads  of  the  family  respon- 
sible Kirk  elders.  John  Gladstone,  brought  into 
contact  at  a  critical  epoch  with  the  active  life  of  a 
growing   community   like   that   of    Liverpool,    soon 


HIS  KINSFOLK.  27 

began  to  tnkc  a  prominent  part  in  public  affairs. 
When,  in  1812,  Canning  fought  a  famous  election  in 
Liverpool,  he  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the 
advocacy  of  the  cause  of  the  great  Minister.  He 
addressed  public  meetings  on  his  behalf,  and  it  was 
from  the  balcony  of  his  house  in  Rodney  Street  that 
Mr.  Canning  spoke  to  the  enthusiastic  crowd  who, 
as  the  result  of  the  election,  hailed  him  Member  for 
Liverpool. 

There  was  in  the  house  at  the  time  a  little  boy 
destined  to  fill  a  larger  space  in  history  even  than 
Canning.  William  Ewart  Gladstone  was  in  his 
third  year  at  this  time,  and  doubtless  from  some 
upper  window  looked  out  with  wondering  eyes  on  the 
turbulent  crowd,  and  heard  the  Minister  talking  of 
Catholic  Emancipation  and  other  strange  matters. 
In  fact,  we  have  his  personal  testimony  on  this  inter- 
esting point.  On  the  29th  December,  1879,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  reaching  his  seventieth  year,  Mr. 
Gladstone  received  at  Hawarden  a  deputation  of 
Liverpool  gentlemen,  who  brought  hearty  congratu- 
lations and  a  costly  present.  In  the  course  of  his 
acknowledorment  he  said :  "  You  have  referred  to  mv 
connection  with  Liverpool,  and  it  has  happened  to 
me  singularly  enough  to  have  the  incidents  of  my 
personality,  the  association  of  my  personality,  if  I 
may  so  speak,  curiously  divided  between  the  Scotch 
extraction,  which  is  purely  and  absolutely  Scotch  as 
to  every  drop  of  blood  in  my  veins,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  nativity  in  Liverpool,  which  is  the  scene  of 


28  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

my  earliest  recollections.  And  very  early  those 
recollections  are,  for  I  remember,  gentlemen,  what 
none  of  you  could  possibly  recollect :  I  remember  the 
first  election  of  Mr.  Canning  in  Liverpool." 

That  was  in  1812,  a  far  cry  to  1879.  The  review 
becomes  the  more  imposing  when  we  reflect  what  a 
foremost  part  Mr.  Gladstone  had  taken  in  moulding 
the  momentous  events  that  have  happened  between 
the  two  dates.  "Washington,"  he  once  said,  "is  to 
my  mind  the  purest  figure  in  history. "  But  of  all 
the  great  men  with  whom  Mr.  Gladstone  has  at  one 
time  or  another  come  into  personal  contact,  he  prob- 
ably retained  the  greatest  admiration  and  reverence 
for  Canning.  "  I  was  bred  under  the  shadow  of  the 
great  name  of  Canning,"  he  one  night  told  the  House 
of  Commons.  "  Every  influence  connected  with  that 
name  governed  the  politics  of  my  childhood  and  of 
my  youth.  With  Canning  I  rejoiced  in  the  removal 
of  religious  disabilities,  and  in  the  character  which 
he  gave  to  our  policy  abroad.  With  Canning  I 
rejoiced  in  the  opening  he  made  towards  the  estab- 
lishment of  free  commercial  interchanges  between 
nations.  With  Canning,  and  under  the  shadow  of 
that  great  name,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  yet 
more  venerable  name  of  Burke,  my  youthful  mind 
and  imagination  were  impressed." 

John  Gladstone  entered  Parliament  some  years 
later.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  hoard  the  maiden 
speech  of  the  member  for  Newark,  l)ut  he  certainly 
sat  in  the  same  Parliament  with  his  son,  and  lived 


HIS  KINSFOLK.  29 

long  enough  to  see  the  magnificent  promise  of  his 
youth  partially  realized.  In  1845  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
partly  in  recognition  of  personal  merit,  doubtless  in 
compliment  to  the  brilliant  young  colleague  who  was 
the  bright  particular  star  of  his  Ministry,  made  the 
elder  Gladstone  a  baronet.  Six  years  later,  in  the 
year  of  the  Great  Exhibition,  Sir  John  died,  mourned 
by  troops  of  friends,  full  of  years  and  honors  and 
riches. 

The  title  went  to  Thomas,  his  eldest  son.  Whilst 
he  lived  no  one  out  of  the  limits  of  the  county  of 
Kincardine  knew  or  heard  of  Sir  Thomas  Gladstone. 
Sometimes  during  the  Parliamentary  Session  people 
passing  through  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons 
were  startled  at  the  sight  of  a  tall  spare  figure,  with 
a  face  singularly  like  Mr.  Gladstone's,  if  one  could 
imagine  it  with  the  fire  gone  out.  A  quiet,  retiring 
country  gentleman.  Sir  Thomas  Gladstone,  on  rare 
visits  to  London,  flitted  about  the  precincts  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  silent,  unnoticing,  and  un- 
noticed, —  a  sort  of  wraith  of  his  brother. 

There  was  another  brother,  who  lived  in  Liverpool, 
and  maintained  the  commercial  relations  of  the 
Gladstone  family.  This  was  Robertson,  a  man  who, 
though  he  took  a  fair  share  of  the  work  of  local 
government  in  the  town,  did  not  aspire  to  deal  with 
affairs  outside  the  limits  of  the  borough.  There  was 
an  occasion,  not  likely  to  be  forgotten  by  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's detractors,  when  Robertson,  moved  with 
honest  indignation  and  fraternal   love,  employed  a 


30  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

maladroit  trope  when  discussing  the  public  position 
of  his  brother.  After  this  he  was  confirmed  in  his 
natural  inclination  to  retirement  from  participation 
in  political  affairs  and,  in  1875  there  passed  away 
from  human  sight  for  all  time  the  colossal  burly 
figure  which,  with  hands  hidden  in  stupendous  waist- 
coat pockets,  long  strode  the  streets  of  Liverpool. 

We  have  hardly  got  William  Ewart  Gladstone  out 
of  petticoats  yet,  but  having  gone  thus  far  in  detailed 
description  of  his  family  belongings,  it  may  be  con- 
venient finally  to  dispose  of  this  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject. In  1839  he  married  Miss  Catherine  Glynne, 
daughter  of  Sir  Stephen  Glynne,  of  Hawarden  Castle, 
Flintshire,  which  became  in  time  the  most  familiar 
postal  address  in  the  world.  He  had  eight  children. 
One,  the  second  daughter,  died  in  1850.  His  eldest 
daughter  is  married  to  the  head-master  of  Wellington 
College,  a  younger  one  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Drew.  A 
third,  unmarried,  is  Principal  of  Newnham  College, 
Cambridge. 

Of  his  four  sons  the  eldest,  William  Henry,  sat  in 
one  House  of  Commons  as  Member  for  Whitbv,  in 
another  representing  East  Worcestershire.  A  man 
of  gentle  and  retiring  disposition,  he  did  not  take 
kindly  to  the  turmoil  of  politics,  and  when  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself,  gratefully  withdrew.  The 
second  son  is  Rector  of  Hawarden.  In  1875  the 
torrent  of  al^usc  to  which  Mr.  Gladstone  was  sub- 
jected took,  in  a  somewhat  ol)scure  London  weekly 
paper,  the  line  of  accusation  that  the  ex-Premier  had 


HIS  KINSFOLK.  31 

presented  liis  son,  ordained  in  1870,  to  one  of  the 
richest  and  easiest  livings  of  the  Church.  This  was 
a  statement  that  might  well  have  been  passed  over 
in  silence.  It  touched  ^Ir.  Gladstone  to  the  quick. 
He  wrote:  "This  easy  living  entailed  the  charge  of 
8,000  people  scattered  over  17,000  acres,  and  fast 
increasing  in  number.  The  living  is  not  in  the  gift 
of  the  Crown.  I  did  not  present  l;iim  to  the  living 
or  recommend  him  to  be  presented.  He  was  not 
ordained  in  1870.  My  relations,"  he  proudly  and 
truthfully  added,  "have  no  special  cause  to  thank 
me  for  any  advice  given  by  me  to  the  Sovereign  in 
the  matter  of  Church  patronage. " 

His  third  son,  Henry,  followed  the  early  family 
traditions  by  entering  upon  commercial  pursuits, 
spending  some  years  in  India.  He  married  the 
daughter  of  Lord  Rendel,  and  still  stands  apart  from 
politics.  The  only  born  politician  among  the  sons 
is  the  youngest.  Mr.  Herbert  Gladstone  made  his 
first  appearance  in  the  political  arena  by  gallantly 
contesting  Middlesex  in  April,  1880.  Defeated 
there,  he  was  returned  for  Leeds  two  months  later, 
and  still  represents  a  Leeds  Division  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  For  a  while  he  acted  as  Private  Secre- 
tary to  his  father  the  Premier,  though  he  received 
no  salary.  He  became  in  succession  a  Lord  of  the 
Treasury  and  Financial  Secretary  to  the  War  Oflice, 
the  Secretaryship  to  the  Home  Office  being  the  high- 
est post  to  which  his  omnipotent  father  promoted 
him.      Upon   Mr.    Gladstone's    retirement    in    1894, 


32  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

colleagues  who  had  long  worked  with  Mr.  Herbert 
Gladstone  made  haste  to  do  him  fuller  justice,  pro- 
moting him  to  the  position  of  First  Commissioner  of 
Works. 

A  singularly  modest  record  this  of  the  family  of 
an  illustrious  statesman,  four  times  Chief  Minister 
of  a  nation  whose  wealth  is  illimitable,  whose  power 
reaches  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  We  are,  happily, 
so  accustomed  in  England  to  find  our  statesmen  free 
from  the  charge  of  nepotism,  that  we  take  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's innocence  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  few 
more  suggestive  chapters  in  his  history  could  be 
written  than  that  which  shows  the  son  of  a  man, 
who  has  made  many  bishops,  rector  of  the  family 
parish  in  Flintshire ;  one  of  his  daughters  mar- 
ried to  a  schoolmaster ;  a  second  herself  a  school- 
mistress, whilst  another  of  his  sons  long  sat  at  an 
office  desk. 

When  not  in  London  engaged  in  Ministerial  or 
political  business  Mr.  Gladstone  has  dwelt  among 
his  own  people  in  his  Flintshire  home.  Of  Hawar- 
den  Castle,  its  history  and  its  belongings,  I  may 
quote  further  from  an  interesting  communication 
addressed  to  me  in  1881  by  the  late  Mr.  W.  H. 
Gladstone :  — 

The  estate  of  Hawarden  was  purchased  by  Serjeant 
Glynne  from  the  agents  of  Sequestration  after  the 
execution  of  James  Earl  of  Derby  in  1651.  It  came 
first  into  the  Stanley  family  in  1443,  when  it  was 
granted  by  Henry  VI.  to  Sir  Thomas  Stanley,  Comp- 


HIS  KINSFOLK.  33 

troller  of  his  Household.  This  grant  was  recalled 
in  1450,  but  in  1454  it  was  restored  to  Sir  Thomas, 
afterwards  Lord  Stanley.  After  his  death  it  de- 
scended to  his  second  wife,  Margaret  Countess  of 
Richmond ;  on  whose  decease  it  returned  to  Thomas 
Earl  of  Derby,  and  remained  in  that  family  till 
1651. 

On  the  Restoration,  when  the  Commons  rejected 
the  Bill  for  restoring  the  estates  of  those  lords  which 
had  been  alienated  in  the  late  usurpation,  Charles 
Earl  of  Derby  compounded  with  Serjeant  Glynne  for 
the  property  of  Hawarden  and  granted  it  to  him  and 
his  heirs. 

The  old  Castle  was  possessed  by  the  Parliament  in 
1643,  being  betrayed  to  Sir  William  Brereton,  but 
was  besieged  soon  after  by  the  Royalists,  and  sur- 
rendered to  Sir  Michael  Earnley,  December  5th, 
1643.  The  Royalists  held  it  till  1645,  when  it  was 
taken  by  General  Mytton.  It  was  soon  after  dis- 
mantled, and  its  further  destruction  effected  by  its 
owner,   Sir  William  Glynne,   in  1665. 

There  is  no  tradition  of  the  Earls  of  Derby  making 
the  Castle  their  residence  subsequent  to  the  death  of 
the  Countess  of  Richmond;  but  it  is  certain  that  it 
was  not  rendered  untenable  till  dismantled  by  final 
order  of  the  Parliament  in  1647. 

The  Glynne  family  were  first  heard  of  at  Glyn 
Llyvon,  in  Carnarvonshire,  in  1567.  A  knighthood 
was  conferred  on  Sir  William,  father  of  Serjeant, 
afterwards   Chief    Justice,    Glynne.      Sir    William, 

3 


34  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

son  of  the  Chief  Justice  (who  also  sat  in  Parliament 
for  Carnarvonshire  in  1660),  was  created  a  Baronet 
in  1661,  during  his  father's  lifetime.  About  this 
date  the  family  became  connected  with  Oxfordshire, 
and  did  not  reside  at  Ha  warden  till  1727,  when  Sir 
Stephen,  second  Baronet,  built  a  house  there.  A 
new  one  was,  however,  built  shortly  after,  in  1752 
by  Sir  John  Glynne,  who,  by  an  alliance  with 
the  family  of  Ravenscroft,  acquired  the  adjoining 
property  of  Broadlane.  This  house,  then  called 
Broadlane  House,  is  the  kernel  of  the  present  resi- 
dence known  as  Hawarden  Castle.  Sir  John  Glynne 
(sixth  Baronet)  applied  himself  to  improving  and 
developing  the  property  on  a  large  scale  by  inclos- 
ing, draining,  and  planting;  and  under  him  the 
estate  grew  to  its  present  aspect  and  dimensions. 
(The  park  contains  some  200  acres ;  the  plantations 
cover  about  500.  The  whole  estate  is  upwards  of 
7,000.)  In  1809  the  house,  built  of  brick,  was  much 
enlarged  and  cased  in  stone  in  the  castellated  style, 
and  under  the  name  it  now  bears.  Further  improve- 
ments were  made  by  the  late  Sir  Stephen  Glynne  in 
1831.  The  new  block,  however,  containing  Mr. 
Gladstone's  study,  was  not  added  till  1864. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  room  has  three  windows  and  two 
fireplaces  and  is  completely  lined  witli  bookcases. 
There  are  three  writing-tables  in  it.  The  first  Mr. 
Gladstone  uses  for  political,  the  second  for  literary 
work  (Homeric  and  other)  when  engaged  upon  such. 
The  third  is  occupied  by  Mrs.  Gladstone.     The  room 


ins  KIXSFOLK. 


s^y 


Wp--V"~" 


has  busts  and  other  likenesses  of  Sidney  Herbert, 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  Tennyson,  Canning,  Cobden, 
Homer,  and  others.  In  a  corner  may  be  seen  a 
specimen  of  an  axe  from  Nottingham,  the  blade  of 
which  is  singularly  long  and  narrow,  and  contrasts 
strongly  with  the  American  pattern,  to  which  Mr. 
Gladstone  is  much  addicted. 

Mr.  Gladstone  sold  his  collections  of  china  and  pic- 
tures in  1874,  retaining,  however,  those  of  ivories  and 
antique  jewels,  exhibited  at  South  Kensington  and 
elsewhere. 

His  library  contains  over  10,000  volumes,  and  is 
very  rich  in  theology.  Separate  departments  are  as- 
signed in  it  to  Homer,  Shakespeare,  and  Dante. 

Chief  portraits  in  the  house  are  those  of  Sir  Kenelm 
Digby,  by  Yandyck,  an  ancestor  of  Honora  Conway, 
Sir  John  Glynne's  wife  ;  Lady  Lucy  Stanley,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Earl  of  Northumberland,  mother  to  Sir  K. 
Digby 's  wife  ;  Jane  Warburton,  afterwards  Duchess 
of  Argyll,  great-granddaughter  to  Chief  Justice 
Glynne ;  Sir  William  Glynne,  first  Baronet,  ascribed 
to  Sir  Peter  Lelv ;  Chief  Justice  Glvnne  as  a  youno: 
man,  and  another  in  his  judicial  robes  ;  Lady  Sandys, 
grandmother  to  Sir  William  Glynne's  wife  ;  Lady 
Wheler,  daughter  of  Sir  Stephen  Glynne ;  Sir  John 
Glynne  with  Honora  Conway  his  wife,  holding  a  draw- 
ing of  the  new  house  at  Broadlane ;  Sir  Robert 
Williams,  of  Penrhyn,  who  married  a  daughter  of  the 
Chief  Justice ;  Catherine  Grenville,  afterwards  Lady 
Braybrooke  and  mother  of  Lady  Glynne ;  Mrs.  Glad- 


36  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

stone,  by  Saye ;  Lady  Lyttelton,  by  Saye ;  the  late 
Sir  Stephen,  by  Roden ;  Mr.  Gladstone's  own  portrait, 
by  W.  B.  Richmond  ;  Viscountess  Vane,  nee  Hawes ; 
Charles  I.,  Henrietta  Maria  his  Queen,  and  Charles  II., 
copies  from  Vandyck ;  and  several  others,  one  attrib- 
uted to  Gainsborough.  There  are  busts  of  Pitt,  Sir 
John  Glynne,  Rev.  Henry  Glynne,  Mrs.  Gladstone, 
Mr.  Gladstone  by  Marochetti,  and  other  statuary. 

The  late  Sir  Stephen  left  a  good  topographical 
library,  and  himself  compiled  an  account  of  nearly  all 
the  old  parish  churches  in  the  kingdom.  He  died  a 
bachelor,  much  beloved  and  lamented,  in  1874. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MEMBER   FOR  NEWARK. 

Mr.  Gladstone  had  not  reached  his  twelfth  birth- 
day when  he  arrived  at  Eton.  The  date  of  his  entry 
in  the  school-books  is  September,  1821.  Fifty-seven 
years  later  he  returned  to  Eton  and  lectured  to  the 
newer  boys.  "  My  attachment  to  Eton,"  he  told  them, 
"  increases  with  the  lapse  of  years.  It  is  the  Queen 
of  Schools."  Among  his  contemporaries  was  that 
Selwyn,  afterward  Bishop  of  Lichfield  and  missionary 
in  New  Zealand,  to  whose  splendid  life  his  old  school- 
fellow long  time  later  found  occasion  to  pay  a  glowing 
tribute.  Mackworth  Praed,  Chauncey  Hare  Towns- 
hend,  F.  H.  Doyle,  and  A.  H.  Hallam  were  also  at 
Eton  with  Mr.  Gladstone. 

The  lad  learned  all  that  was  to  be  learned  in  tlie 
Eton  of  those  days.  School  studies  left  him  many 
spare  hours,  and  his  restless  energy  found  more  or 
less  adequate  channels  of  escape  in  literature.  He 
started  a  College  journal,  the  Eton  Miscellany,  and 
chiefly  wrote  it  himself.  He  was  equal  to  either  prose 
or  verse,  embarking,  inter  alia,  upon  a  tremendous 
poem  laudatory  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion.  There  are 
some  lines  in  this  school-boy  flight  which,  without 
violence,  might  be  adapted  to  Mr.   Gladstone's  out- 


38  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

break,  at  the  time  of  the  Bulgarian  Atrocities,  from  a 
briefly  enforced  state  of  quietude.  "  Who  foremost 
now  ? "  the  jacketed  small  boy  asks  in  this  tremend- 
ous poem  — 

Who  foremost  now  the  deadly  spear  to  dart, 
And  strike  the  jav'lin  to  the  Moslem's  heart; 
Who  foremost  now  to  climb  the  'leaguered  wall, 
The  first  to  triumph  or  the  first  to  fall  1 

But  the  young  poet  of  this  date  had  no  prophetic 
vision  of  the  future.  His  thoughts  were  full  of 
Richard  "  stalking  along  the  blood-dyed  plain  "  and 
"  bathing  his  hands  in  Moslem  blood." 

The  youth  left  Eton  in  December,  1827,  and  after 
studying  for  six  months  with  Dr.  Turner,  afterward 
Bishop  of  Calcutta,  went  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 
How  well  he  worked  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that, 
going  up  for  examination  in  1831,  he  gained  the  high- 
est honors  of  the  University,  graduating  Double  First. 

In  the  course  of  time  he  came  to  represent  his 
Alma  Mater  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  time  to 
be  dismissed  peremptorily,  if  not  with  ignominy.  It 
was  characteristic  of  him  that,  going  down  to  Man- 
chester just  after  his  defeat  at  Oxford,  he  made  the 
earliest  use  of  his  unmuzzled  opportunities  to  sing 
the  praises  of  Oxford.  *'  I  have,"  he  said,  "loved  the 
University  of  Oxford  with  a  deep  and  passionate 
love  ;  and  so  I  shall  love  it  to  the  end.  If  mv  affcc- 
tion  is  of  the  smallest  advantage  to  that  great,  tliat 
ancient,  that  nol)le  institution,  that  advantage,  such  as 
it  is,  and  it  is  most  insignificant,  Oxford  will  possess 
as  long  as  I  live." 


MEMBER   FOR   NEWARK.  39 

Newman  was  a  great   force  at   Oxford  when   the 
future  member  for  the  University  was  undergraduate. 
"  At  that  time,"  Mr.  Gladstone  says,  "  before  the  era 
of  the  controversies  with  which  he  is  connected,  New- 
man, with  his  deep  piety  and  his  remarkable  gifts  of 
mind,  was  a  great  object  of  interest.     He  was  looked 
upon  rather  with  prejudice  as  what  is  termed  a  Low 
Churchman,  but   was   very  much    respected   for   his 
character  and  his  known  ability.     He  was  then  the 
Vicar  of  St.  Mary's  at  Oxford,  and  used  to  preach 
there.     Without  ostentation  or  effort,  by  simple  ex- 
cellence, he  was  constantly  drawing  undergraduates 
more  and  more  around  him.     Newman's  manner  in 
the  pulpit  was  one  about  which,  if  you  considered  it 
in  its  separate  parts,  you  would  arrive  at  very  un- 
satisfactory conclusions.     There  w^as  not  very  much 
change  in  the  inflection  of  the  voice  ;  action  there  was 
none.     His  sermons  were  read,  and   his  eyes   were 
always  on  his  book.     All  that,  it  may  be  said,  is  against 
the  efficacy  of  preaching.     But  taking  the  man  as  a 
whole,  there  was  a  stamp  and  seal  upon  him.     There 
was  a  solemn  music  and  sweetness  in  the  tone.     There 
w^as  a  completeness  in  the  figure,  taken  together  with 
the  tone  and  with  the  manner,  which  made  even  his  de- 
livery, such  as  I  have  described  it,  and  though  exclu- 
sively with  written  sermons,  singularly  attractive." 

Naturallv  Mr.  Gladstone  was  attracted  durino^  his 
residence  in  the  University  by  the  opportunities  of 
debate  offered  bv  the  Oxford  Union,  in  which  he 
rapidly  rose  to  the  proud  position  of  president.     The 


40  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

outer  world  at  this  time  was  moved  by  the  passion  of 
Parliamentary  Reform.  Lord  John  Russell  had  just 
brought  forward  in  the  House  of  Commons  the  first 
Ministerial  Measure  of  Reform.  The  Oxford  Union 
had,  of  course,  something  to  say  on  this  momentous 
question,  and  it  is  interesting  to  find  in  the  minutes 
of  the  Club  an  amendment,  moved  b}^  William  Ewart 
Gladstone,  to  the  effect  that  "  The  Ministry  has  un- 
wisely introduced  and  most  unscrupulously  forwarded 
a  measure  which  threatens  not  only  to  change  our  form 
of  government,  but  ultimately  to  break  up  the  very 
foundation  of  social  order,  as  well  as  materiallv  to 
forward  the  views  of  those  who  are  pursuing  this 
project  throughout  the  civilized  world." 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  in  Italy  when  the  summons 
came  in  obedience  to  which  he  placed  his  foot  on  the 
first  rung  of  the  ladder  of  fame.  It  was  the  year 
1832.  The  Reform  Bill  had  just  been  passed,  and 
the  United  Kingdom  was  in  the  throes  of  expecta- 
tion as  to  what  might  follow  on  the  summoning  of 
the  first  Reformed  Parliament.  It  was  the  Duke 
of  Newcastle,  registered  owner  of  the  borough  of 
Newark,  who  was  instrumental  in  bringing  Mr. 
Gladstone  into  the  House  of  Commons.  In  a  con- 
versation which  took  place  upon  the  hustings  on  the 
day  of  nomination,  there  is  something  eminently 
characteristic  of  Mr.  Gladstone  as  he  was  known  to 
a  later  generation. 

A  matter-of-fact  elector,  who  probably  did  not 
rent   his  house   or  shop  from  tlie  Duke,   asked  the 


MEMBER   FOR   NEWARK.  41 

young  candidate  "  Whether  he  was  not  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle  's  nominee  ?  "  This  was  an  exceedingly 
embarrassing  question.  If  the  candidate  said  "No," 
he  would  be  convicted,  within  every  man's  knowl- 
edge, of  a  falsehood.  If  he  said  "Yes,"  what  a 
farce  was  this  nomination  and  bustle  at  the  poll ! 
But  Mr.  Gladstone,  though  an  exceedingly- young 
bird  at  this  date,  was  not  to  be  caught  by  chaff.  He 
asked  the  honorable  elector  to  do  him  the  favor  of 
defining  the  term  nominee.  The  unwary  elector  fell 
into  the  trap,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  was,  of  course,  able 
to  declare  that  in  such  a  sense  he  was  not  the  Duke's 
nominee.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  certainly  was,  and 
the  preponderance  of  the  Duke's  influence  was  indi- 
cated by  his  being  returned  at  the  head  of  the  poll. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  address  to  the  electors  of  Newark 
has  peculiar  value  as  indicating  precisely  the  politi- 
cal platform  from  which  the  great  social,  religious, 
and  political  Liberator  sprung.  It  is  also  interest- 
ing as  showing  how  this  marvellously  subtle  mind 
is  able  to  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason, 
and  how  ingeniously  he  argues  to  convince  the  elec- 
tors of  Newark  and  himself.  The  document,  dated 
9th  October,   1831,   runs  thus :  — 

"Having  now  completed  my  canvass,  I  think  it  my 
duty  as  well  to  remind  you  of  the  principles  on 
which  I  have  solicited  your  votes,  as  freely  to  assure 
my  friends  that  its  result  has  placed  my  success 
beyond  a  doubt.  I  have  not  requested  your  favor  on 
the  ground  of  adherence  to  the  opinions  of  any  man 


42  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

or  party,  further  than  such  adherence  can  be  fairly 
understood,  from  the  conviction  I  have  not  hesitated 
to  avow,  that  we  must  watch  and  resist  that  unin- 
quiring  and  undiscriminating  desire  for  change 
among  us,  which  threatens  to  produce,  along  with 
partial  good,  a  melancholy  preponderance  of  mis- 
chief —  which  I  am  persuaded  would  aggravate  be- 
yond computation  the  deep-seated  evils  of  our  social 
state,  and  the  heavy  burdens  of  our  industrial  classes 
—  which  by  disturbing  our  peace,  destroys  confi- 
dence, and  strikes  at  the  root  of  prosperity.  Thus 
it  has  done  already;  and  thus  we  must  therefore 
believe  it  will  do.  For  the  mitio^ation  of  those 
evils  we  must,  I  think,  look  not  only  to  particular 
measures,  but  to  the  restoration  of  sounder  general 
principles.  I  mean  especially  that  principle  oa 
which  alone  the  incorporation  of  Religion  with  the 
State,  in  our  Constitution,  can  be  defended;  that  the 
duties  of  governors  are  strictly  and  peculiarly  relig- 
ious, and  that  legislatures,  like  individuals,  are 
bound  to  carry  throughout  their  acts  the  spirit  of  the 
high  truths  they  have  acknowledged.  Principles  are 
now  arrayed  against  our  institutions,  and  not  by 
truckling  nor  by  temporizing  —  not  by  oppression  or 
corruption  —  but  by  principles  they  must  be  met. 
Amon[>;  their  first  results  should  be  a  sedulous  and 
special  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  poor,  founded 
upon  the  rule  that  those  who  arc  the  least  able  to 
take  care  of  themselves  should  be  most  regarded  by 
others.     Particularly   it    is   a  duty  to  endeavor   by 


MEMBER   FOR   NEWARK.  43 

every  means  that  labor  may  receive  adequate  remim- 
eration ;  which,  unhappily,  among  several  classes  of 
our  fellow-countrymen,  is  not  now  the  case.  What- 
ever measures,  therefore,  whether  by  correction  of  the 
poor  laws,  allotment  of  cottage  ground,  or  otherwise, 
tend  to  promote  this  object,  I  deem  entitled  to  the 
warmest  support,  with  all  such  as  are  calculated  to 
revive  sound  moral  conduct  in  any  class  of  societ3\ 
I  proceed  to  the  momentous  question  of  slaverv, 
which  I  have  found  entertained  among  you  in  that 
candid  and  temperate  spirit  which  alone  befits  its 
nature,  or  promises  to  remove  its  difficulties.  If  I 
have  not  recognized  the  right  of  an  irresponsible 
society  to  interpose  between  me  and  the  electors,  it 
has  not  been  from  any  disrespect  to  its  members, 
nor  from  unwillingness  to  answer  theirs  {sic)  or 
any  other  questions  on  which  the  electors  may  desire 
to  know  my  views.  To  the  esteemed  secretary  of  the 
society  I  submitted  my  reasons  for  silence;  and  I 
made  a  point  of  stating  these  views  to  him,  in  his 
character  of  a  voter.  As  regards  the  abstract  law- 
fulness of  slavery,  I  acknowledge  it  simply  as  import- 
ing the  right  of  one  man  to  the  labour  of  another ; 
and  I  rest  it  upon  the  fact  that  Scripture,  the  para- 
mount authority  upon  such  a  point,  gives  directions 
to  the  persons  standing  in  the  relation  of  master  to 
slave  for  their  conduct  in  the  relation;  whereas, 
were  the  matter  absolutely  and  necessarily  sinful, 
it  would  not  regulate  the  manner.  Assuming  sin  as 
the  cause  of  degradation,  it  strives,  and  strives  most 


44  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

effectually,    to   cure   the   latter   by  extirpating  the 
former.     We  are  agreed  that  both  the  physical  and 
the  moral  bondage  of  the  slave  are  to  be  abolished. 
The  question  is  as  to  the  order,  and  the  order  only; 
now  Scripture  attacks  the  moral  evil  before  the  tem- 
poral one,  and  the  temporal  through  the  moral  one, 
and  I  am  content  with  the  order  which  Scripture  has 
established.     To  this  end  I  desire  to  see  immediately 
set  on  foot,  by  impartial  and  sovereign  authority,  a 
universal  and  efficient  system  of  Christian  instruc- 
tion,  not  intended   to   resist  designs  of  individual 
piety  and  wisdom,  for  the  religious  improvement  of 
the  negroes,  but  to  do  thoroughly  what  they  can  only 
do  partiall3\     As  regards  immediate  emancipation, 
whether   with  or  without   compensation,   there   are 
several   minor  reasons  against  it;   but   that   which 
weighs   with   me    is,    that   it   would,    I  much   fear, 
exchange  evils  now  affecting  the  negro  for  others 
which  are  weightier  —  for  a  relapse  into  deeper  de- 
basement,   if   not   for  bloodshed  and   internal  war. 
Let  fitness  be  made  a  condition   for  emancipation; 
and  let  us  strive  to  bring  him  to  that  fitness  by  the 
shortest  possible  course.     Let  him  enjoy  the  means 
of  earning  his  freedom  through  honest,  industrious 
habits;  thus  the  same  instruments  which  attain  his 
liberty  shall  likewise  render  liim  competent  to  use 
it;  and  thus  I  earnestly  trust  without  risk  of  blood, 
without  violation  of  property,  with  unimpaired  bene- 
fit to  the  negro,   and  with  the  utmost  speed  which 
prudence  will  admit  we  shall  arrive  at  that  exceed- 


MEMBER   FOR   NEWARK.  45 

inc-lv  desirable  consummation,  the  utter  extinction 
of  Slavery.  And  now,  gentlemen,  as  regards  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  you  have  rallied  round  your 
ancient  flag,  and  welcomed  the  humble  representa- 
tive of  those  principles  whose  emblem  it  is,  I  trust 
that  neither  the  lapse  of  time  nor  the  seductions  of 
prosperity  can  efface  it  from  my  memory.  To  my 
opponents  my  acknowledgments  are  due  for  the  good- 
humor  and  kindness  with  which  they  have  received 
me ;  and  while  I  would  thank  my  friends  for  their 
zealous  and  unwearied  exertions  in  my  favor,  I 
briefly,  but  emphatically,  assure  them  that  if  prom- 
ises be  an  adequate  foundation  of  confidence,  or 
experience  a  reasonable  ground  of  calculation,  our 
victory  is  sure." 

Mr.  Gladstone's  maiden  speech  in  the  House  of 
Commons  was  made  in  defence  of  the  domestic  insti- 
tution of  slavery.  It  was  a  burning  question  at  the 
time  he  entered  Parliament,  and  his  views  were 
naturally  tinged  by  the  circumstance  that  his  father 
owned  many  slaves  in  Demerara.  To  denounce  the 
institution  of  slavery  was  to  impugn  the  humanity 
of  his  father.  Tn  fact,  a  personal  reference  had  been 
made  to  Mr.  John  Gladstone  in  the  course  of  the  de- 
bate on  the  abolition  of  slavery.  We  next  find  him 
appearing  as  the  advocate  of  that  estimable  body  of 
politicians,  the  Freemen  of  Liverpool,  who  were 
threatened  with  extinction  consequent  upon  a  too 
open  exercise  of  their  alleged  right  to  do  what  they 
liked  with  their  own  — that  is  to  say,  to  get  as  much 


46  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

as  possible  for  their  votes.  We  further  find  this 
uncompromising  young  Tory  resisting  an  attempt  to 
deal  with  the  temporalities  of  the  Church  of  Ireland 
and  opposing  Mr.  Hume  in  his  effort  to  open  the 
Universities  to  Nonconformists. 

Sir  Robert  Peel  had  taken  note  of  the  young  mem- 
ber for  Newark,  and  when,  in  the  last  days  of  1834, 
he  undertook  to  form  a  Ministry  in  succession  to 
that  of  Lord  Melbourne,  he  offered  Mr.  Gladstone 
the  post  of  Junior  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  This  was 
a  tolerable  success  for  a  young  man  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  at  the  close  of  his  second 
Parliamentary  Session.  But  it  was  the  prelude  to 
even  more  rapid  advancement.  Parliament  had 
scarcely  met  for  the  Session  of  1835,  when  he  was 
installed  in  the  office  of  Under-Secretary  for  the 
Colonies. 

Here  is  a  charming  leaf  of  autobiography  contrib- 
uted by  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  course  of  a  letter 
prefacing  a  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen :  "  On  an 
evening  in  the  month  of  January,  1835,  I  was  sent 
for  by  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  received  from  him  the 
offer,  which  I  accepted,  of  the  Under-Secretaryship 
of  the  Colonics.  From  him  I  went  on  to  Lord  Aber- 
deen, who  was  thus  to  be,  in  official  home-talk,  my 
master.  I  may  confess  that  I  went  in  fear  and 
tremblin"-.  I  knew  Lord  Aberdeen  onlv  bv  public 
rumor.  Distinction  of  itself,  naturally  and  properly, 
rather  alarms  the  young.  I  had  heard  of  his  high 
character ;  but  1  had  also  heard  of  him  as  a  man  of 


MEMBER   FOR   NEWARK.  47 

cold  manners,  close  and  even  haughty  reserve.  It 
was  dusk  when  I  entered  his  room,  — the  one  on  the 
first  floor,  with  the  bow-window  looking  to  the  Park, 
—  so  that  I  saw  his  figure  rather  than  his  counte- 
nance. I  do  not  recollect  the  matter  of  the  conver- 
sation; but  I  well  remember  that,  before  I  had  been 
three  minutes  with  him,  all  my  apprehensions  had 
melted  away  like  snow  in  the  sun.  I  came  away 
from  that  interview,  conscious  indeed  —  as  who 
could  fail  to  be  conscious  ?  —  of  his  dignity,  but  of  a 
dignity  so  tempered  by  a  peculiar  purity  and  gentle- 
ness, and  so  associated  with  impressions  of  his  kind- 
ness, and  even  friendship,  that  I  believe  I  felt  more 
about  the  wonder  of  his  being  at  that  time  so  mis- 
understood by  the  outer  world,  than  about  the  new 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  my  new  office." 

The  young  Minister  lost  no  time  in  bringing  in  his 
first  Bill,  a  measure  designed  to  improve  the  condi- 
tion of  passengers  in  merchant  vessels.  The  Minis- 
try was,  however,  too  short-lived  for  this  humble 
effort  to  be  added  to  the  accomplishments  of  the 
statute-book.  Mr.  Gladstone's  young  hopes  received 
a  temporary  blow  from  contact  with  the  question  of 
the  Irish  Church,  which  exercised  so  important  an 
influence  on  later  stages  of  his  career.  It  was  on  a 
resolution  containing  the  nucleus  of  the  Irish  Church 
Bill  of  1869  that  the  first  Ministry  of  which  he 
formed  a  member  was  defeated,  and  forced  to  resign. 

For  the  next  five  or  six  years  Mr.  Gladstone 
remained  in  opposition  with  his   great  chief.     But 


48  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

though  out  of  office  he  was  not  idle.  He  spoke  fre- 
quently in  debates,  and  the  growth  of  his  position  in 
the  country  is  testified  to  by  the  fact  that  in  1837, 
beino;  in  his  twentv-ei2:hth  year,  he  was  invited  to 
stand  as  the  Tory  candidate  for  Manchester.  He 
declined  the  proposal,  but  was  nevertheless  run,  and 
polled  a  considerable  number  of  votes.  It  was  at 
this  period  of  his  career  that  Lord  Macaulay  described 
him  in  a  famous  sentence  as  "  a  young  man  of  un- 
blemished character,  and  of  distimruished  Parliamen- 
tary  talents,  the  rising  hope  of  those  stern  and 
unbending  Tories  who  follow  reluctantly  and  mutin- 
ously a  leader  whose  experience  and  eloquence  are 
indispensable  to  them,  but  whose  cautious  temper 
and  moderate  opinions  they  abhor."  This  was,  as 
every  one  knows,  written  apro2:)os  of  Mr.  Gladstone's 
essay  on  "The  State  in  its  Relations  with  the 
Church ;  "  a  work  the  theory  of  which  Macaulay  has 
described  as  based  upon  the  proposition  that  the  pro- 
pagation of  religious  truth  is  one  of  the  chief  ends 
of  government. 

This  pious  political  tract  gave  great  joy  to  Oxford, 
to  which  "fountain  of  blessings  spiritual,  social,  and 
intellectual,"  it  was  dedicated.  Oxford  did  not  for- 
get the  compliment  when,  eight  years  later,  a  change 
in  the  political  opinions  of  the  member  for  Newark 
necessitated  his  looking  out  for  another  seat.  In 
other  directions  than  that  of  literature  and  the 
Church,  the  rising  hope  of  the  stern,  unbending 
Tories   justified   the   description  of   the   Edinburgh 


MEMBER   FOR    NEWARK.  49 

reviewer.  We  find  him  at  this  period  lending  the 
weight  of  his  eloquence  and  the  force  of  his  genius 
to  stopping  the  progress  of  Reform  in  whatever  direc- 
tion it  was  urged.  He  opposed  a  Ministerial  scheme 
for  dealing  with  the  Church  rates  in  deference  to 
the  views  of  Dissenters.  He  passionately  defended 
negro  apprenticeship,  the  last  vestige  of  slavery  per- 
mitted in  the  West  Indies.  He  opposed  a  scheme  of 
national  education  in  which,  as  Lord  Morpeth  put  it, 
"  it  was  declared  to  be  the  duty  of  the  State  to  pro- 
vide education  for  Dissenters  so  long  as  it  fingered 
their  gold,"  and  he  fought  hard  in  the  long  battle 
against  the  Bill  designed  to  remove  the  civil  disa- 
bilities of  Jews.  He  was  always  thorough,  and 
being,  in  these  days  of  partially  developed  intelli- 
gence, a  Tory,  he  battled  under  the  Tory  flag  with 
the  same  impetuous  vigor  as  in  fuller  manhood  he 
brought  to  the  effort  in  pulling  it  down. 


CHAPTEE  lY. 

CHANCELLOR  OF  THE  EXCHEQUER. 

In  1841  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  back  in  power,  bring- 
ing with  him  the  "  young  man  of  unblemished  char- 
acter," whom  Lord  Macaulay,  perhaps  not  altogether 
without  spite,  spoke  of  as  a  rival,  but  in  whom  the 
large-minded  statesman  saw  nothing  but  a  promising 
pupil  and  friend.  To  Sir  Robert  Peel  Mr.  Gladstone 
had  transferred  some  of  that  enthusiastic  homage  he 
had  in  boyhood  paid  to  Canning.  "It  is,"  he  said, 
speaking  at  Manchester  three  years  after  the  death 
of  his  old  chief,  "easy  to  enumerate  many  charac- 
teristics of  the  greatness  of  Sir  Robert  Peel.  It  is 
easy  to  speak  of  his  ability,  of  his  sagacity,  of  his 
indefatigable  industry.  But  there  was  something 
yet  more  admirable  than  the  immense  intellectual 
endowments  with  which  it  had  pleased  the  Almighty 
to  gift  him,  and  that  was  his  sense  of  public  virtue, 
it  was  his  purity  of  conscience,  it  was  his  determi- 
nation to  follow  the  public  good,  it  was  that  disposi- 
tion in  him  w^hich,  when  he  had  to  choose  between 
personal  ease  and  enjoyment,  or  again,  on  the  other 
hand,  between  political  power  and  distinction  and 
what  he  knew  to  be  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  his 
choice  was  made  at  once.  When  his  choice  was 
made  no  man  ever  saw  him  hesitate,    no  man  ever 


CHANCELLOR    OF   THE  EXCHEQUER.         51 

saw  him  hold  back  from  that  which  was  necessary  to 
give  it  effect." 

Returning  to  the  subject,  speaking  at  Sunderland 
in  1862,  Mr.  Gladstone  said :  "  No  lapse  of  time  can 
ever  efface  from  the  recollection  of  his  countrymen 
the  service  he  performed,  and  the  character  by  which 
those  services  were  illustrated  and  adorned.  No  re- 
collection of  public  life  can  ever  be  dearer  to  me  than 
to  have  been  associated  with  him,  and  to  have  had  a 
share  in  giving  effect  to  his  convictions  during  the 
course  of  now  more  than  twenty  years.  To  him  I  owe 
it  that  my  mind  was  first  directed  to  those  economical 
and  commercial  questions  the  disposal  and  solution  of 
which  will  fill  so  large  and  honorable  a  page  in  the 
history  of  the  present  age.  And  of  him  I  will  venture 
to  say  that,  great  as  were  his  intellectual  qualities, 
comprehensive  and  far-sighted  as  were  his  views,  dis- 
tinguished as  were  the  firmness  and  the  courage  with 
which  he  sustained  them,  not  even  those  intellectual 
qualities  were  more  remarkable  in  the  eyes  of  those  to 
whom  he  was  intimately  known  than  what  I  will  call 
the  splendor  and  the  purity  of  his  public  virtues." 

To  the  Parliament  summoned  in  1841  Mr.  Gladstone 
was  again  returned  as  member  for  Newark,  this  time 
as  the  colleague  of  Lord  John  Manners.  In  the 
Ministry  he  held  two  offices,  that  of  Master  of  the 
Mint  and  Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Trade. 

In  the  memorials  of  Charlotte  Williams  Wynn,  we 
find  a  remark  on  this  circumstance  which  throws  a 
strong  side-light   on   the  public    recognition   of   Mr. 


52  MR.    GLADSTONE, 

Gladstone's  character  at  this  epoch.  Writing  to 
Baron  Varnhagen  von  Ense,  under  date  "  London 
18th  November,  1841,"  Miss  WilHams  Wjnn  reports: 
"  They  say  Mr.  Gladstone  has  been  given  two  offices 
in  order,  if  possible,  to  keep  him  quiet,  and  by  giving 
him  too  much  to  do,  to  prevent  him  from  troubling 
his  head  about  the  Church.  But  I  know  it  will  be  in 
vain,  for,  to  a  speculative  mind  like  his,  theology  is  a 
far  more  inviting  and  extensive  field  than  any  offered 
by  the  Board  of  Trade." 

This  is  a  shrewd  estimation  of  character,  the  full 
accomplishment  of  which  the  charming  letter-writer 
would  have  witnessed  had  she  lived  five  years  longer, 
and  seen  Mr.  Gladstone,  just  freed  from  the  Imperial 
cares  of  office,  gleefully  buckle  on  his  armor  to  do 
battle  with  the  Pope  for  the  vanquishing  of  the  Vati- 
can. In  the  meantime  he  found  plenty  to  do  in  his 
dual  office. 

The  Session  of  1842  was  the  one  which  saw  Sir 
Robert  Peel  bring  in  his  new  sliding  scale  of  Corn 
Duties  —  a  slide  wliich  swiftly  led  to  the  total  abolition 
of  the  impost.  Closely  connected  with  the  compre- 
hensive Free  Trade  policy  into  which  the  Premier  w^as 
drifting  was  the  Revision  of  the  Tariff,  a  herculean 
task,  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  genius  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone. This  was  his  opportunity  for  bringing  into 
play  that  statesmanlike  view  of  a  wide  field,  combined 
with  that  consummate  masterv  of  details,  which  sub- 
sequently  marked  his  budgets.  His  speeches  had 
already  established  for  him  the  position  of  a  debater, 


CHANCELLOR    OF   THE   EXCHEQUER.         53 

and  even  of  an  orator.  His  Tariffs  Bill  and  his  con- 
duct in  Committee  stamped  him  as  a  statesman. 

In  the  followmg  year  (1843)  he  became  head  of 
his  department,  and  as  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  carried  an  im})ortant  Bill,  controlling  the  then 
young  domestic  institution  of  railways.  Since  the 
year  1843  Mr.  Gladstone  has  done  so  much  for  the 
people  that  his  comparatively  minor  achievements  are 
lost  sight  of.  It  is  nevertheless  interesting  to  recall 
the  fact  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  Parliamentary 
train  which  travels  the  full  length  of  all  lines  twice  a 
day  at  a  fare  of  one  penny  a  mile  —  perhaps  a  more 
useful  work  than  his  essay  on  "  The  State  in  its  Rela- 
tions with  the  Church,"  or  even  his  pamphlet  on 
"  Vaticanism." 

In  1845  the  Government,  having  determined  to 
bring  in  a  Bill  dealing  with  Maynooth  College  in 
a  way  that  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  Gladstone's  sound 
Church  principles,  he  resigned,  checking  for  a  moment 
his  brilliant  advance.  But  he  was  not  a  man  whom 
Sir  Robert  Peel  could  long  spare  from  his  side.  Early 
next  year  he  returned  to  the  Ministry  as  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Colonies,  and  what  was  even  more  im- 
portant, pledged  to  go  the  full  length  of  Sir  Robert 
Peel's  Free  Trade  policy,  which  now  reached  the  point 
of  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws.  This  progress, 
carrying  him  far  beyond  the  halting  steps  of  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle,  necessitated  resignation  of  his 
seat  for  Newark.  Thereafter,  for  the  whole  of  this 
important  Session,  and   during   the  greater   part   of 


64  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

the  next,  he  remained  without  a  seat.  When  he  re- 
turned  as  member  for  Oxford  the  Corn  Law  Repeal 
Act  was  passed  ;  Sir  Robert  Peel,  having  done  his 
work,  was  relegated  to  the  Opposition  benches,  and 
the  Whigs  had  a  lease  of  power. 

In  1850  Sir  Robert  Peel  died,  and  it  seemed  to 
some  of  those  who  had  lived  and  worked  with  this 
supreme  man  that  any  subsequent  attempts  to  form 
a  good  Government  for  England  would  be  hopeless. 
The  turbulent  individuality  of  some  of  his  lieutenants 
might,  for  a  time,  be  merged  in  his  stronger  will  and 
more  transcendent  power.  But  he  gone,  who  was  to 
lead  men  like  Mr.  Gladstone,  Sir  James  Graham,  and 
Sidney  Herbert  ?  They  would  belong  to  neither  party, 
and  standing  aloof,  their  ability  acknowledged,  and 
their  motives  above  suspicion,  they  probably  exer- 
cised more  influence  on  the  House  of  Commons  than 
either  group  on  the  two  front  benches.  In  the  win- 
ter of  this  year  Mr.  Gladstone,  going  to  Naples  for 
a  holiday,  saw  something  of  the  condition  of  prison 
life  under  that  enlightened  monarch,  Ferdinand  II. 
Throwing  himself  with  his  accustomed  energy  into 
this  cause,  he,  through  the  medium  of  letters  addressed 
to  Lord  Aberdeen,  then  Premier,  succeeded  in  arous- 
ing not  only  in  England,  but  througliout  Europe,  a 
storm  of  indignation  against  what  the  then  editor  of 
the  faithful  Univers  called  "  le  plus  digue  et  le 
mcillcur  dcs  Rois."  The  immediate  result  of  this 
cliivah-ous  advocacy  was  not  commensurate  with  the 
storm  it  aroused.     But  it  bore  fruit  when  Garibaldi 


CHANCELLOR   OF  THE  EXCHEQUER.        5o 

and  a  free  people  marched  into  Naples,  and  King 
Bomba,  his  priests,  his  women,  and  his  Court  ran  out. 

If  Mr.  Gladstone  had  died  before  1853  he  would 
have  been  accounted  a  brilliant  politician  cut  off 
before  the  ripeness  of  years  had  brought  him  fulness 
of  opportunity.  He  had  done  great  things,  but  their 
character  was  rather  critical  than  constructive.  1:1^' 
had  spoken  brilliantly,  but  had  not  achieved  anything 
likely  to  secure  him  permanent  fame.  In  1853  tlie 
square  peg  was  happily  thrust  into  the  square  hole, 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  became  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer. His  remarkable  ability  for  dealing  with 
figures,  for  evolving  a  comprehensive  scheme  out  of  a 
multiplicity  of  details,  had  been  shown  in  the  Tariffs 
Bill  already  alluded  to.  In  1852  he  had  disclosed 
in  stronger  light  his  mastery  over  the  science  of 
National  Finance. 

At  this  epoch  Lord  Derby  was  Premier  and  Mr. 
Disraeli  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  The  latter 
had  introduced  his  first  budget  in  an  elaborate 
speech,  extending  over  five  hours  and  a  quarter. 
Unless  it  greatly  differed  from  all  his  orations  of 
similar  proportions  it  must  have  been  intolerably 
heavy.  To  one  listener,  however,  it  possessed  a  keen 
and  enthralling  interest.  Mr.  Gladstone  had  not,  up 
to  this  period,  entered  upon  that  attitude  of  personal, 
sometimes  acrid,  antagonism  with  Mr.  Disraeli  which 
subsequent  events  and  relative  positions  created.  He 
had  answered  and  been  answered  by  him  in  the  course 
of  debate.     But  the  House  and  the  country  had  not  as 


1 


56  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

yet  come  to  look  with  keen  interest  for  what  might 
follow  upon  a  conflict  between  these  two  men,  who 
had  no  possession  in  common  except  genius.  Circum- 
stances were  rapidly  tending  toward  the  creation  of 
the  condition  of  affairs  the  House  of  Commons  and 
the  country  were  long  familiar  with.  Mr.  Gladstone 
could  never  forgive  Mr.  Disraeli's  bitter  attacks  on 
his  old  friend  and  master,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  had 
loudly  cheered  Sidney  Herbert  when,  in  a  moment  of 
passionate  indignation,  that  gentleman  had  pointed  to 
the  Treasury  Bench,  where  now  prosperously  sat  the 
detractor  of  the  great  Free-Trader,  and  asked  the 
House  to  behold  in  him  "  a  spectacle  of  humiliation." 

When  Mr.  Disraeli  essayed  to  deal  with  finance, 
Mr.  Gladstone  with  fierce  delight  sprang  upon  him, 
gripping  him  so  sorely  that  he  made  an  end  of 
him,  his  budget,  and  the  Ministry  of  which  he  was 
the  prop.  Lord  Derby  resigned,  and  Lord  Aberdeen, 
being  called  upon  to  form  a  Ministry,  invited  Mr. 
Gladstone  to  take  the  office  out  of  which  he  had  driven 
Mr.  Disraeli.  His  acceptance  of  the  offer  did  not  of 
course  finally  mark  his  passage  across  the  great  gulf 
which  separates  Toryism  from  Liberalism.  Lord 
Aberdeen  was  at  this  epoch  far  removed  from  w^liat 
we  in  tliese  days  should  call  a  Liberal.  Still,  he  was 
certainly  not  a  Tory  —  was,  indeed,  at  the  other  end 
of  the  stick,  inasmuch  as  the  Tories  being  out,  he  was 
called  upon  to  succeed  them,  and  had  for  colleague 
Lord  John  Russell. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  conversion  to  Liberalism  had  Ijcen 


CHANCELLOR    OF   THE    EXCHEQUER.         57 

slow  but  certain.  While  yet  a  member  of  the 
avowedly  Conservative  Government  of  Sir  Robert 
Peel,  he  was  gradually  seeing  light.  When  the  shep- 
herd died,  and  the  fold  was  broken  up,  he  declined 
overtures  made  to  him  by  Lord  Derby  to  join  the 
Ministry  formed  in  1852,  nominally  as  successor  to 
the  heritage  of  Sir  Robert  Peel.  He  long  stood  aloof 
from  both  parties.  Probably  the  fact  that  Mr.  Dis- 
raeli had  come  to  be  accepted  as  a  high  priest  to 
Toryism  added  the  last  impulse  to  his  conviction  that 
Toryism  was  a  thing  not  to  be  desired  or  encouraged. 
Accordingly,  he  formally  ranged  himself  in  the 
Liberal  ranks. 

On  the  18th  of  April,  1853,  he  delivered  the 
first  of  what  has  proved  to  be  a  long  series  of 
budget  speeches  unsurpassed  in  Parliamentary  his- 
tory. There  are  some  members  in  the  present  House 
of  Commons  who  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  occa- 
sion. Expectation  stood  on  tiptoe.  The  House  was 
crowded  in  every  part,  and  it  remained  crowded  and 
tireless,  while  for  the  space  of  five  hours  Mr.  Glad- 
stone poured  forth  a  flood  of  oratory  which  made 
arithmetic  astonishingly  easy,  and  gave  an  unaccus- 
tomed grace  to  statistics.  Merely  as  an  oratorical 
display,  the  speech  was  a  rare  treat  to  the  crowded 
assembly  that  heard  it,  and  to  the  innumerable  com- 
pany which  some  hours  later  read  it.  But  the  form 
was  rendered  doubly  enchanting  by  the  substance. 
It  was  clear  that  Mr.  Gladstone  could  not  onlv  adorn 
the  exposition  of  finance  with  the  glamour  of  oratory, 


58  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

but  could  control  the  developments  of   finance  with 
a  master-hand. 

His  scheme  was  a  bold  one.  The  young  and  un- 
tried Cliancellor  of  the  Exchequer  found  himself  with 
a  surplus  of  something  over  three-quarters  of  a  million. 
This  was  not  much.  But  it  was  enough  to  make 
things  pleasant  in  one  or  two  influential  quarters,  and 
he  might  have  hoped  for  a  fuller  purse  next  year.  To 
have  taken  this  course,  to  have  dril^bled  away  the 
surplus,  practically  to  have  left  matters  where  they 
stood,  would,  moreover,  have  saved  him  an  infinitude 
of  trouble,  and  relieved  him  from  a  tremendous  risk. 
Scorning  these  considerations,  plunging  into  the 
troubled  sea  with  the  confident  daring  of  genius,  he 
positively  increased  taxation,  chiefly  by  manipulation 
of  the  Income  Tax,  and  was  thereby  enabled,  in  a 
wholesale  manner  that  seems  scarcely  less  than 
magical,  to  reduce  or  absolutely  abolish  the  duties 
on  nearly  three  hundred  articles  of  commerce  in 
daily  use.  Tlie  secret  of  the  financier's  necromancy 
lay  in  that  sound  principle  which  he  may  be  said  to 
have  inaugurated  in  British  finance,  and  under  the 
extended  application  of  which  trade  and  commerce 
have  advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds.  lie  reckoned 
upon  that  property  in  national  finance  known  as  the 
"  elasticity  of  revenue,"  now  habitually,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  ordinary  calculation,  counted  upon  to  make 
good  deficiencies  immediately  accruing  upon  reduc- 
tion of  taxation.  There  is  nothiniz;  remarkable  in  the 
adoption  of  this  principle  to-day,  any  more  than  tlicre 


CHANCELLOR    OF   THE  EXCHEQUER.        59 

is  in  the  application  of  a  lighted  match  to  a  gas- 
burner  when  we  want  light  in  a  darkened  room.  But 
in  1853  the  experiment  was  as  novel,  and  its  results 
as  surprising,  as  would  have  been  the  introduction  of 
a  blazing  gas-chandelier  in  the  House  of  Commons 
when  William  Pitt  was  explaining  his  budget  of  1783. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  thing  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Gladstone's  first  budget  was  the  confidence 
with  which  its  predictions  w^ere  accepted.  Every- 
where it  was  applauded,  and  though  Mr.  Disraeli, 
as  Leader  of  the  Opposition,  supported  an  amend- 
ment against  it,  his  action  was  regarded  merely  as  a 
matter  of  course.  Equally  a  matter  of  course  the 
budget  resolutions  were  approved,  and  the  beneficial 
reign  of  sound  finance,  inspired  by  rare  genius 
and  directed  by  superlative  energy,  forthwith  com- 
menced. 

Mr.  Gladstone  continued  to  be  the  main  strength 
of  the  Aberdeen  Ministry,  and  in  his  capacity  as 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  he  financed  the  Crimean 
War.  In  1855,  when  the  coalition  fell  to  pieces, 
and  Lord  Palmerston  undertook  to  construct  a  Gov- 
ernment out  of  the  fragments,  Mr.  Gladstone  con- 
tinued to  hold  his  office  —  promptly  resigning  it 
when  he  found  the  patriotic  Mr.  Roebuck's  motion, 
for  what  was  known  as  "The  Sebastopol  Committee," 
was  not  to  be  withstood  by  the  Cabinet.  He  re- 
mained out  of  office  for  some  years  following,  his 
leisure  intermitted  by  work  that  would  have  sufficed 
other   men  for  a  life's  labor.     It  was  during  this 


60  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

period  he  completed  and  published  his  "  Studies  on 
Homer  and  the  Homeric  Age. "  He  fulfilled  more 
than  the  average  duties  of  a  Member  of  Parliament, 
superadding  a  special  mission  to  the  Ionian  Islands, 
undertaken  in  1858  at  the  request  of  Lord  Derby, 
then  Premier.  Early  in  1859  the  brief  administra- 
tion of  Lord  Derby,  in  which  Mr.  Disraeli  had  for 
the  second  time  held  the  office  of  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  came  to  an  end.  Mr.  Gladstone  again 
joined  the  Ministry  formed  by  Lord  Palmerston, 
which  lasted  as  long  as  that  Premier's  life. 

During  the  long  reign  of  Lord  Palmerston  the 
progress  of  politics  attuned  itself  to  the  beat  of  the 
pulse  of  the  aged  Premier.  There  were  wars  abroad, 
but  peace  and  prosperity  at  home,  and  Mr.  Glad- 
stone was  able  to  carry  out  the  scheme  of  bold,  far- 
seeing  finance  the  Crimean  War  had  interrupted  five 
years  earlier.  The  year  1860  saw  the  completion  of 
the  Commercial  Treaty  with  France ;  a  fruitful  tree, 
which  Mr.  Cobden  and  Napoleon  III.  planted,  and 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  watered.  This  same  year  was 
the  last  of  the  Paper  Duty,  the  abolition  of  which 
in  1861  was  a  final  stroke  in  that  labor  for  the 
freedom  of  the  press  and  the  extension  of  intelli- 
gence, begun  when,  in  an  earlier  budget,  he  had 
made  an  end  of  the  Stamp  Duty. 


CHAPTER  V. 


"  UNMUZZLED. " 


The  long  Parliament  of  Lord  Palmerston  came  to  an 
end  on  the  6th  of  July,  1865.  There  was  no  partic- 
ular reason  why  it  should  have  been  prorogued  then, 
rather  than  a  month  or  six  months  later,  for  it  had 
completed  only  122  days  of  its  seventh  year.  But 
at  that  time  Ministers  took  a  view  of  the  possible 
length  of  Parliaments  which  finds  an  interesting 
illustration  in  an  incidental  reference  made  by  Mr. 
Gladstone  in  his  budget  speech  of  1865.  Reciting 
the  several  claims  the  existing  Parliament  had  upon 
the  attention  of  history,  he  added,  "lastly,  it  has 
enjoyed  the  distinction  that,  although  no  Parliament 
ever  completes  the  full  term  of  its  legal  existence, 
yet  this  is  the  seventh  time  you  have  been  called 
upon  to  make  provision  for  the  financial  exigencies 
of  the  country." 

The  result  of  the  general  election  was  most  impor- 
tant to  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  to  the  nation  in  whose 
life  he  had  become  an  important  factor.  Offering 
himself  for  re-election  at  Oxford,  he  was  rejected 
in  favor  of  Mr.  Gathorne  Hardy,  afterwards  Lord 
Cranbrook,  and  some  time  Secretary  of  State  for 
India.  This  event  created  a  profound  sensation,  no 
authority  being  more  deeply  moved  than  The  Times. 


62  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

It  is  interesting  at  this  time  of  day  to  quote  The 
Times  of  1865  upon  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Gathorne 
Hardy:  "The  enemies  of  the  University,"  it  was 
written  in  this  impartial  and  important  journal, 
"will  make  the  most  of  her  disgrace.  It  has  hither- 
to been  supposed  that  a  learned  constituency  was  to 
some  extent  exempt  from  the  vulgar  motives  of  party 
spirit,  and  capable  of  forming  a  higher  estimate  of 
statesmanship  than  common  tradesmen  or  tenant- 
farmers.  It  will  now  stand  on  record  that  they  have 
deliberately  sacrificed  a  representative  who  combined 
the  very  highest  qualifications,  moral  and  intellec- 
tual, for  an  academical  seat,  to  party-spirit,  and 
party-spirit  alone.  .  .  .  Henceforth  Mr.  Gladstone 
will  belong  to  the  country,  but  no  longer  to  the 
University." 

Great  Britain,  in  one  geographical  section  or  other, 
has  always  taken  care  that  it  shall  not  be  deprived  of 
the  advantage  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  presence  in  its  Par- 
liament. On  this  occasion  it  was  South  Lancashire 
which,  perceiving  his  peril  at  Oxford,  voluntarily 
offered  to  secure  him  a  seat.  From  the  University 
he  hastened  to  the  manufacturing  town,  and  stood 
before  the  men  of  Manchester,  as  he  said,  "unmuz- 
zled." Even  the  dullest  politicians  recognized  the 
significance  of  the  events  so  aptly  described  in  this 
memorable  phrase.  As  long  as  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
politically  associated  with  Oxford,  the  Alma  Mater 
he  loved  with  changeless  affection,  there  was  a  possi- 
bility that  he  might  successfully  resist  the  silent 


''  unmuzzled:'  63 

forces  leading  him  to  a  more  uncompromising  Lil^cr- 
alism.  When  Oxford  snapped  the  chain  he  was  free 
to  go  whither  he  listed.  The  end  would,  doubtless, 
inevitably  have  arrived.  He  would  have  retired 
from  Oxford  because  he  was  bent  upon  freeing  the 
Irish  Church,  just  as  in  an  earlier  stage  of  his  career 
he  had  withdrawn  from  Newark  because  he  was  about 
to  join  in  an  assault  on  Protection.  Sooner  or  later 
the  unmuzzling  must  have  been  accomplished.  Ox- 
ford elected  to  make  it  sooner  by  several  years. 

The  unmuzzling  process  was  completed  by  an  event 
which  made  memorable  the  autumn  of  1865.  Lord 
Palmerston  died,  and  the  pent-up  flood  of  Liberal 
life  rushed  downward  like  a  cataract.  In  a  happy 
phrase  Dean  Church  described  Palmerston  in  his 
closing  years  as  "the  great-grandpapa  to  the  English 
political  world,  whose  age  was  to  be  respected." 
Grandpapa's  eyes  reverentially  closed,  the  time  for 
coalitions  and  temporizing  was  past.  Earl  Russell 
succeeded  as  Premier,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  was  named 
Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  still  holding  the 
Ministerial  ofhce  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 

It  was  felt  that  the  hour  had  come  for  the  intro- 
duction of  a  Reform  Bill,  and  in  Earl  Russell  the 
man  was  naturally  found.  The  statesman  who  had 
taken  a  leading  part  in  the  Reform  campaign  of  1832 
was  largely  responsible  for  the  measure  of  1866. 
But  it  happened  that  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  Leader  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  fell  the  task  of  introducing 
the  Bill,   and  bearing  the  brunt  of  the  battle  that 


64  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

raged  around  it.  There  were  giants  in  those  days, 
and  the  Parliamentary  debates  of  the  Session  of 
1866  stand  out  in  the  pages  of  Hansard,  by  reason  of 
their  brilliancy  and  fire.  Mr.  Disraeli  led  the  united 
body  of  the  Conservatives  in  an  attack  upon  a 
Bill  which  they  regarded  with  holy  horror,  as  a 
long  advance  on  the  way  to  the  establishment  of 
democracy. 

But  the  most  dangerous  foes  of  the  Liberal  party 
were  to  be  found  within  its  own  household.  This 
was  the  year  in  which  Mr.  Lowe,  fresh  from  the 
insufficient  glories  of  a  Colonial  Legislature,  made 
his  mark  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  terror  of 
the  uttermost  Tory  was  far  exceeded  by  the  appre- 
hension with  which  he  regarded  this  Bill.  Speaking 
of  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  contemplating  the  probability 
of  the  Bill  being  carried,  he  exclaimed :  "  I  court 
not  a  single  leaf  of  the  laurels  that  may  encircle  his 
brow.  I  do  not  envy  him  his  triumph.  His  be 
the  glory  of  carrying  the  Bill,  mine  of  having  to  the 
utmost  of  my  poor  ability  resisted  it." 

It  was  in  this  year  that  the  Cave  of  Adullam  was 
formed,  and  there  was  created  that  immortal  "  party 
of  two  [Mr.  Horsman  and  Mr.  Lowe],  like  the  Scotch 
terrier  that  was  so  covered  with  hair  you  could  not 
tell  which  was  the  head  and  which  the  tail."  The 
debate  on  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill  lasted  several 
days.  On  the  eve  of  the  division  it  fell  to  ^Ir.  Glad- 
stone's lot  to  wind  up  the  debate,  which  he  did  in  a 
speech  containing  perhaps  absolutely  the  finest  per- 


"  unmuzzled:'  65 

oration  of  the  many  that  sparkle  in  the  train  of  the 
infinitude  of  his  orations. 

"You  cannot  fight  against  the  future,"  he  said, 
turning  sharp  upon  the  Opposition,  and  speaking  in 
a  voice  where  pathos  struggled  with  exultation  for 
the  mastery.  "Time  is  on  our  side.  The  great 
social  forces  which  move  onward  in  their  might  and 
majesty,  and  which  the  tumult  of  our  debates  does 
not  for  a  moment  impede  or  disturb  —  those  great 
social  forces  are  against  you.  They  are  marshalled 
on  our  side ;  and  the  banner  which  we  now  carry  in 
this  fight,  though  perhaps  at  some  moment  it  may 
droop  over  our  sinking  heads,  yet  it  soon  again  will 
float  in  the  eye  of  Heaven,  and  will  be  borne  by  the 
firm  hands  of  the  united  people  of  the  three  king- 
doms, perhaps  not  to  an  easy,  but  to  a  certain  and  a 
not  far  distant  victory." 

In  the  mean  time  the  defeat  too  surely  foreseen  was 
accomplished.  The  Adullamites  coalescing  with  the 
Conservatives  made  it  impossible  to  pass  the  meas- 
ure, which  was  finally  thrown  out.  The  Ministry 
resigned,  and  the  Earl  of  Derby,  most  unhappy  of 
Cabinet  constructors,  was  again  called  upon  to  form 
a  Ministry  from  a  party  in  a  hopeless  minority. 

In  the  race  for  the  highest  office  of  the  State,  Mr. 
Disraeli  beat  Mr.  Gladstone  by  one  lap,  as  he  had 
outrun  him  by  the  same  distance  when  the  Chancel- 
lorship of  the  Exchequer  was  the  goal.  The  Earl  of 
Derby  held  office  just  long  enough  to  see  passed,  by 
the  Ministry  of  which  he  was  the  head,  a  Reform 

5 


6Q  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

Bill  exceeding  in  its  democratic  tendencies  any  that 
had  been  proposed  by  a  responsible  Liberal  Minis- 
try. As  soon  as  Parliament  met  the  following  year, 
Lord  Derby  retired  on  the  plea  of  ill-health,  and  Mr. 
Disraeli,  who  had  the  previous  Session  heard  him- 
self denounced  by  his  later  colleague,  Lord  Salisbury, 
as  "a  political  adventurer,"  and  his  policy  described 
as  "one  of  legerdemain,"  became  leader  of  the  Con- 
servative party  and  Prime  Minister  of  England. 

In  this  Session  Mr.  Gladstone's  mind  reached  the 
final  point  of  conviction  that  the  Irish  Church  might 
no  longer  be  endured.  Early  in  the  Session  he  laid 
upon  the  table  of  the  House  a  series  of  resolutions. 
The  first  roundly  declared  that, "in  the  opinion  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  it  is  necessary  that  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  Ireland  should  cease  to  exist  as  an 
Establishment."  On  this  question  Liberals  and 
Conservatives  joined  issue,  the  Liberals  being  united 
in  a  degree  unusual  then,  not  often  repeated  since. 
Successive  divisions  showed  that  the  majority  were 
overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the  disestablishment 
of  the  Church.  On  the  question  of  Parliamentary 
Reform,  Mr.  Disraeli's  position  was  not  unfairly 
described  by  Mr.  Lowe.  "If,"  said  Mr.  Lowe, 
affecting  to  paraphrase  the  terms  of  the  Conserva- 
tive leader's  reiterated  speech,  "the  House  will  deign 
to  take  us  into  its  counsel,  if  it  will  co-operate  with 
us  in  this  matter,  we  shall  receive  with  cordiality, 
with  deference,  nay,  even  with  gratitude,  any  sug- 
gestion it  likes  to  offer.     Say  what  you  like  to  us, 


«  unmuzzled:*  67 

only  for  God's  sake  leave  ns  in  our  places."  Mr. 
Disraeli  had,  as  he  himself  boasted,  educated  his 
party  in  the  matter  of  Parliamentary  Reform.  But 
in  view  of  such  a  question  as  the  disestablishment 
of  the  Church,  parleying  was  impossible.  He  must 
fight;  and  finding  fighting  impossible  with  the  Par- 
liament assembled,  he  brought  about  its  dissolution, 
and  appealed  to  the  country. 

The  answer  was  sharp  and  unmistakable.  By 
tremendous  exertions,  concentrated  with  all  the 
power  of  personal  dislike  and  party  hatred,  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  defeated  in  Lancashire.  Elsewhere 
the  Liberals  had  an  overwhelming  triumph,  and  Mr. 
Gladstone  (returned  from  Greenwich,  which  had 
done  for  him  in  this  election  the  service  performed 
by  South  Lancashire  in  1865)  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  an  overwhelming  majority  —  a  Prime  Min- 
ister personally  more  powerful  than  any  who  had 
held  the  reins  of  State  since  the  palmiest  days  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

PREMIER. 

Invested  with  supreme  power,  with  the  immediate 
mission  of  disestablishing  the  Irish  Church,  he  set 
himself  about  the  task  with  characteristic  energy. 
At  the  earliest  date  he  submitted  to  the  new  Parlia- 
ment his  Bill  for  the  Disestablishment  of  the  Church. 
The  second  reading  was  carried  by  a  majority  of 
118,  in  a  House,  including  tellers,  of  622  members, 
a  striking  event  that  disposed  of  anything  like  legiti- 
mate opposition.  Opposition  there  was,  neverthe- 
less, and  it  was  three  months  before  the  Bill  passed 
through  Committee,  during  which  time,  statesmen 
of  the  calibre  of  Mr.  Cavendish  Bentinck,  Mr.  James 
Lowther,  and  Mr.  "  Tom  "  Collins  rose  innumerable 
times  to  state  their  opinion  that  the  end  of  all  things 
was  at  hand,  and  to  hint,  as  plainly  as  might  be 
within  Parliamentary  limits,  their  personal  opinion 
of  the  author  of  so  much  evil. 

The  next  Session  (1870)  was  primarily  devoted  to 
the  Irish  Land  Bill,  this  year  added  to  the  statute- 
book  ;  in  addition,  the  Elementary  Education  Act 
was  passed, — hardy  fruits  of  a  Session  disturbed 
and  interrupted  by  interpellations  and  debates  on 
the  policy  of  the  Government  with  respect  to  the  war 
between  France   and  Prussia.     The   next  year   saw 


PREMIER.  60 

passed  the  Army  "Regulation  Bill,  embodying  the 
Abolition  of  Purchase,  which  latter  Mr.  Gladstone 
finally  accomplished,  in  opposition  to  the  House  of 
Lords,  by  invoking  the  Royal  Warrant.  The  Ballot 
Bill,  also  brought  in  this  Session,  was  thrown  out 
by  the  Lords.  In  the  following  year  it  was  brought 
in  again,  and,  being  put  in  the  forefront  of  the  pro- 
gramme, was  carried.  A  less  happy  fate  befell  the 
Irish  University  Bill,  which  brought  about  a  new 
Cave  of  Adullam,  and  was  thrown  out  by  a  coali- 
tion between  the  extreme  Liberals  and  the  watchful 
Conservatives.  A  majority  of  three  in  a  House 
of  573  declared  against  the  Government,  where- 
upon Mr.  Gladstone  resigned.  The  Queen  sent 
for  Mr.  Disraeli,  and  invited  him  to  form  a  Minis- 
try. But  the  Leader  of  the  Opposition,  with  a  pre- 
science loudly  murmured  against  at  the  time  by  his 
impatient  followers,  declined  to  hurry  events.  Mr. 
Gladstone  returned  to  office,  and  the  Session  pursued 
its  course. 

But  the  end  was  not  far  off.  Mr.  Gladstone  had 
lived  fast  and  travelled  far.  He  had  accomplished 
in  four  Sessions  an  amount  of  work  formerly  esti- 
mated as  the  full  allowance  of  four  Parliaments. 
He  had  done  all,  and  more  than  all  he  had  promised, 
far  more  than  might  reasonably  have  been  antici- 
pated on  entering  office.  The  usual  symptoms  that 
follow  on  repletion  began  to  manifest  themselves. 
The  House  of  Commons  was  restless,  discontented 
and   ill-humored,    while   the   country,    waxing   faty 


70  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

began  to  kick.  The  Premier  was  not  constitution- 
ally the  kind  of  man  for  meeting  and  overcoming 
such  a  crisis.  He  had  always  been  at  a  disadvan- 
tage as  compared  with  his  great  rival  in  respect  of 
personal  manner.  He  was  too  much  in  earnest  to 
pay  a  just  measure  of  attention  to  those  little  cour- 
tesies which  count  for  much  even  in  the  government 
of  an  empire  on  which  the  sun  never  sets.  It  would 
be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  Lord  Beaconsfield 
was  never  in  earnest.  It  is  unquestionable  that  he 
was  never  so  much  exhausted  by  earnestness  that  he 
forgot  to  pay  those  petty  homages  which  cost  so 
little,  and  to  the  leader  of  a  party  are  worth  so 
much. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  gaze  was  fixed  far  above  heads  of 
mortal  men,  and  the  natural  consequence  was  that 
when  he  moved  about  his  daily  work  he  frequently 
knocked  up  against  his  own  friends  and  trod  upon 
their  corns.  The  average  of  personal  popularity 
was  not  made  up  by  any  of  his  colleagues.  Some, 
notably  Mr.  Lowe  and  Mr.  Ayrton,  were  viewed  with 
strong  personal  dislike  by  the  public,  whom  they  in 
their  turn  unmercifully  snubbed.  Mr.  Gladstone, 
his  colleagues,  and  his  policy  began  to  be  assailed 
from  all  sides.  Foreign  policy,  being  necessarily 
less  susceptible  of  full  comprehension  than  any 
other  ramification  of  Constitutional  Government,  has 
always  been  peculiarly  attractive  to  the  more  igno- 
rant among  us.  It  is  a  large  question,  upon  which 
small  intelligences  like  to  swell   and  puny  persons 


PREMIER.  71 

love  to  strut.  Mr.  Gladstone's  foreign  policy  was 
assailed  with  persistent  clamor.  But  the  most  dan- 
gerous symptom  of  approaching  decay  was  found  in 
the  vitality  of  sections  ranged  under  the  common 
banner  of  Liberalism. 

This  spirit  began  to  manifest  itself  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Committee  on  the  Education  Bill,  when 
the  Nonconformist  body  spied  under  Mr.  Forster's 
muffler  the  beard  of  a  Denominationalist.  In  mak- 
ing a  last  protest  on  the  third  reading  of  the  Bill, 
Mr.  Miall  affirmed  that  the  Nonconformists  "could 
not  stand  this  sort  of  thing  much  longer." 

Mr.  Gladstone  was  sitting  quietly,  even  listlessly, 
on  the  Treasury  Bench,  when  this  threatening  speech 
was  made.  He  had  not  intended  to  join  in  the  de- 
bate, the  matter  having  been  already  talked  out  over 
many  sittings.  Moreover,  the  Bill  was  not  in  his 
charge,  but  Mr.  Forster's.  When  these  words  fell 
on  his  ear,  he  quickly  rose  from  his  recumbent  posi- 
tion, and  those  looking  on  knew  that  a  scene  was 
imminent. 

* 

As  Mr.  Miall  resumed  his  sea,t,  the  Premier  sprang 
to  his  feet,  the  thunder  rolled  and  the  lightning 
flashed.  "I  hope,"  he  said,  in  those  slow,  carefully- 
accentuated  tones  which  marked  the  rarely-reached 
white  heat  of  his  passion,  "my  honorable  friend  will 
not  continue  his  support  of  the  Government  one 
moment  longer  than  he  deems  it  consistent  with  his 
sense  of  duty  and  right.  For  God's  sake,  sir,  let 
him  withdraw  it  the  moment  he  thinks  it  better  for 


72  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

the  cause  he  has  at  heart  that  he  should  do  so.  So 
long  as  my  honorable  friend  thinks  lit  to  give  us  his 
support  we  will  co-operate  with  my  honorable  friend 
for  every  purpose  we  have  in  common.  But  when 
we  think  his  opinions  and  demands  exacting,  when 
we  think  he  looks  too  much  to  the  section  of  the 
community  he  adorns,  and  too  little  to  the  interests 
of  the  people  at  large,  we  must  then  recollect  that 
we  are  the  Government  of  the  Queen,  and  that  those 
who  have  assumed  the  high  responsibility  of  admin- 
istering the  affairs  of  this  Empire  must  endeavor  to 
forget  the  parts  in  the  whole,  and  must,  in  the  great 
measures  they  introduce  into  the  House,  propose  to 
themselves  no  meaner  or  narrower  object  than  the 
welfare  of  the  Empire  at  large." 

In  the  Session  of  1872  the  growing  lassitude  of 
Parliament  was  shown  on  the  second  reading  of  the 
Ballot  Bill  —  a  measure  of  the  first  importance,  for 
the  division  on  the  second  reading  of  which  the 
united  strenuous  exertions  of  the  Whips  could  muster 
an  aggregate  voting  power  of  only  165.  The  third 
reading  was  carried  by  276  votes  against  218 ;  figures 
which  show  that  Mr.  Gladstone  still  had  a  substan- 
tial majority  in  the  House.  By  the  Licensing  Act, 
introduced  and  passed  this  Session,  the  popularity 
of  the  Government  received  a  fresh  blow.  It  was 
reserved  for  the  Irish  University  Bill  to  complete 
the  destruction.  The  majority  against  the  second 
reading  of  this  Bill  was  very  small,  and  was  made 
up  of  sections  not  likely  to  reunite  under  any  pro- 


PREMIER.  73 

bable  circumstances.  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  has  been 
shown,  resumed  office  when  Mr.  Disraeli  declined  to 
have  his  hand  forced.  But  he  never  really  recovered 
from  the  blow  thus  struck. 

The  Session  flickered  to  an  end  amidst  constant 
wrangles  and  an  aggravating  disregard  for  authority. 
In  vain  Mr.  Ayrton  had  been  cast  overboard.  In 
vain  Mr.  Low^e  repeated  in  his  own  person  the  use- 
ful purposes  of  Jonah.  The  Ministerial  ship  would 
not  right,  lying  in  the  trough  of  the  sea,  an  object 
of  derision  to  the  fickle  public  who  five  years 
earlier  had  helped  to  launch  it  amidst  demonstra- 
tions of  the  wildest  enthusiasm.  Buffeted  abroad, 
assailed  from  w^ithin,  angry,  dispirited  with  existing 
circumstances,  hopeful  of  the  verdict  of  a  nation 
whose  behests  he  had  splendidly  fulfilled,  Mr.  Glad- 
stone suddenly  cut  the  Gordian  knot.  On  the  24th 
of  January,  1874,  just  on  the  eve  of  the  assembling 
of  Parliament  for  the  customary  Session,  the  country 
awoke  to  find  Parliament  was  dissolved.  It  was 
through  the  medium  of  an  address  to  the  electors  of 
Greenwich  that  the  startling  news  was  communi- 
cated. There  was  considerable  vigor  in  the  lengthy 
document,  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  a  few  months 
earlier,  upon  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Lowe,  had 
returned  to  his  old  office  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exche- 
quer, promised  a  renewed  exhibition  of  the  magic 
with  which  the  countrv  was  once  familiar,  now  to  be 
directed  to  the  extinction  of  the  Income  Tax.  But 
between  the  lines  it  was  not  difiicult  to  read  that  the 


74  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

great  statesman  was  weary  and  sick  at  heart.  "If," 
he  said,  "the  trust  of  this  Administration  be  by  the 
effect  of  the  present  elections  virtually  renewed,  I 
for  one  will  serve  you,  for  what  remains  of  my  time, 
faithfully.  If  the  confidence  of  the  country  be  taken 
from  us,  and  handed  over  to  others  whom  you  may 
deem  more  worthy,  I  for  one  shall  accept  cheerfully 
my  dismissal." 

There  was  no  presage  of  victory  in  such  a  call  to 
battle.  But  in  his  gloomiest  moments  Mr.  Glad- 
stone could  not  have  anticipated  the  full  depth  of  the 
reverse  of  fortune  awaiting  him  at  the  poll.  He 
himself  narrowly  escaped  defeat  at  Greenwich,  com- 
ing in  second,  the  head  of  the  poll  being  reserved  for 
an  estimable  but  obscure  Conservative.  Elsewhere, 
all  along  the  line,  the  Liberals  were  defeated. 
Broken  was  the  phalanx,  which  within  seven  years, 
dating  from  1867  —  two  years  in  opposition  and  five 
in  office  —  had  achieved  a  record  of  work  rarely 
equalled,  never  beaten.  They  had  abolished  the 
compulsory  Church  rate.  They  had  transformed  a 
nominal  Reform  Bill  into  a  real  measure.  They 
had  abolished  the  Irish  Church,  reformed  the  Irish 
Land  Laws,  settled  the  question  of  Scotch  Educa- 
tion, and  far  advanced  the  cause  of  education  in 
England.  Purchase  in  the  army  had  been  abolished, 
and  the  pathway  of  promotion  thrown  open  to  the 
foot  of  merit.  The  Ballot  Bill  had  been  carried; 
the  judicature  of  the  country  reformed;  religious 
tests  finally  a])olishcd  in  the  universities;  the  esti- 


PREMIER.  75 

mates  reduced,  whilst  the  defensive  forces  of  the 
country,  hoth  military  and  naval,  had  been  appre- 
ciably increased. 

This  was  a  claim  upon  the  gratitude  of  an  electorate 
which  seemed  likely  to  meet  with  abundant  reward. 
But  Mr.  Gladstone  had  lived  long  enough  to  learn 
the  bitter  lesson  that  gratitude  is  unknown  in  poli- 
tics. When  the  gains  and  losses  were  counted  up, 
it  was  found  that  Mr.  Disraeli,  meeting  Parliament 
in  1874,  was  almost  exactly  in  the  same  position  as 
Mr.  Gladstone  had  been  when  meeting  Parliament 
in  1869.  The  pendulum,  having  swung  violently  to 
one  side,  had  in  return  nearly  reached  the  same 
altitude  on  the  other. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THROWING   UP   THE  SPONGE. 

The  new  Parliament  opened  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1874,  with  Mr.  Disraeli  in  the  seat  where  through 
six  eventful  years  he  had  watched  Mr.  Gladstone 
throned.  For  the  first  time  in  his  political  history 
he  was  not  only  in  office,  but  in  power.  In  the  Ses- 
sion of  1873,  Mr.  Gladstone  being  defeated  on  the 
Irish  Education  Bill  by  the  action  of  the  Noncon- 
formist conscience,  Mr.  Disraeli  had,  to  the  mani 
fest  chagrin  of  some  of  his  supporters,  declined  to 
take  office.  His  prescience  was  magnificently  justi- 
fied by  the  swiftly  succeeding  event  of  the  general 
election.  Four  years  earlier,  in  a  private  letter 
which  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  later  saw  the 
light  of  day,  Mr.  Froude  wrote:  "I  have  been  among 
some  of  the  Tory  magnates  lately.  They  distrust 
Disraeli  still,  and  will  never  again  be  led  by  him. 
So  they  are  as  sheep  that  have  no  shepherd.  Lord 
Salisbury's  time  may  come;  but  not  yet." 

That  was,  as  many  still  living  know,  and  as  a 
multitude  of  written  testimony  proves,  the  attitude 
towards  Disraeli  of  the  party  he  had  at  length,  with 
infinite  patience  and  consummate  skill,  led  out  of 
the  wilderness.  When,  in  1852,  Disraeli,  made 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  by  the  audacious  Lord 


THROWING    UP    THE   SPONGE.  11 

Derby,  gave  his  first  Parliamentary  dinner,  The 
Saturday  Review,  then  the  organ  of  blue-blooded 
Toryism,  celebrated  the  event  in  much  appreciated 
verse,  of  which  one  stanza  lingers  in  the  memory : 

And  o'er  them  all  in  jewels  (light, 
Not  known  from  real  in  any  light, 
And  St.  John's  clothes  as  good  as  new. 
Enraptured  sat  the  glorious  Jew. 

For  Disraeli  the  plucky  fight  against  jealousy  and 
detraction  was  over.  Long  a  pariah  among  the  aris- 
tocratic party,  he  was  now  to  become  its  idol,  soon 
amid  universal  acclaim  to  take  his  seat  among  them 
as  Earl  of  Beaconsfield.  The  dramatic  interest  of 
the  episode  was  completed  by  the  fact  that,  coinci- 
dentally  with  his  supreme  elevation,  came  about  the 
ruinous  fall  of  his  great  adversary. 

There  was  much  curiosity  as  to  what  part  Mr. 
Gladstone  would  be  disposed  to  play  in  the  trans- 
formed scene  on  the  parliamentary  boards.  It  is 
possible  that,  even  at  this  early  date,  some  of  his 
friends  had  been  made  aware  of  his  intention  of 
withdrawing  from  the  conflict.  It  was  a  habit  of  his 
mind,  whenever  he  met  with  rebuff  in  the  political 
arena,  to  contemplate  retirement.  In  Committee  on 
the  Reform  Bill  of  1867,  he,  then  the  Leader  of  the 
Liberal  party  in  the  House  of  Commons,  brought 
forward  a  series  of  amendments  wdiich,  had  the 
whole  of  the  party  voted  with  him,  would  have  been 
engrafted  in  the  Bill.  But  there  was  then,  as  there 
has  been  since,  a  cave.     As  Mr.   Bright  put  it  in  a 


78  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

speech  delivered  a  few  days  later,  "  very  small  men 
who  during  their  whole  political  lives  have  not 
advanced  the  question  of  Reform  by  one  hair's 
breadth  or  by  one  moment  in  time,  can  at  a  critical 
hour  throw  themselves  athwart  the  objects  of  a  great 
party,  and  mar  a  great  measure  that  ought  to  affect 
the  interests  of  the  country  beneficially  for  a  long 
time. " 

Mr.  Gladstone's  amendments  were  negatived  by  a 
majority  of  twenty-one  in  a  House  of  599  members. 
He  thereupon,  in  reply  to  a  convenient  letter  from 
Mr.  Crawford,  one  of  the  members  for  the  City, 
threw  up  the  whole  business,  declining  to  proceed 
with  blocks  of  other  amendments  of  which  he  had 
given  notice.  Earlier  even  than  this  he  had  begun 
to  talk  in  the  "at-my-time-of-life  "  mood  that  became 
so  familiar  throughout  the  closing  quarter-of-a-cen- 
tury  of  his  public  life.  In  1861  he  wrote :  "  Events 
are  not  wholly  unwelcome  which  remind  me  that  my 
own  public  life  is  now  in  its  thirtieth  year,  and 
ought  not  to  last  very  many  years  longer."  In  the 
troublesome  times  of  1873,  when  friends  were  falling 
off  and  faction  rearing  its  head  with  fuller  rigor, 
Mr.  Gladstone  was  accustomed  constantly  to  refer  to 
retirement.  In  his  diary.  Bishop  Wilberforcc  writes 
under  date  May  6th,  1873:  "Gladstone  much  talk- 
ing; how  little  real  good  work  any  Premier  has 
done  after  sixty.  Peel ;  Palmerston,  his  work  all 
really  done  before;  the  I)uke  of  Wellington  added 
nothing  to   his   reputation   after.     I   told   him  Dr. 


THROWING    UP   THE   SPONGE.  79 

Clark  tliought  it  would  be  plij'sically  worse  for  him 
to  retire.  '  Dr.  Clark  does  not  know  how  completely 
I  should  employ  myself,'  he  replied,"  probably  with 
Homer  and  the  Vatican  in  his  eye. 

Whatever  intention  Mr.  Gladstone  may  have 
formed  when  he  found  his  forces  crumbling  to  pieces 
at  the  general  election,  he  did  not  at  the  outset  shirk 
his  Parliamentary  duties.  With  the  opening  of  a 
new  Parliament  there  was  necessity  for  the  election 
of  a  new  Speaker,  or  the  re-election  of  the  old  one. 
He  was  still,  nominally,  Leader  of  the  Liberal 
Party,  and  upon  him  devolved  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons the  duty  of  supporting  the  Speaker-elect  on 
taking  the  chair.  The  House  was  crowded  with  an 
unusual  number  of  new  members,  anxious  to  see  all 
that  was  to  be  seen,  not  least  eager  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  great  statesman,  who,  quitting  the 
House  in  the  late  autumn  master  of  a  majority  that 
still  could  muster  between  sixty  and  seventy,  re- 
turned to  it  to  find  himself  in  a  minority  of  half  a 
hundred.  Mr.  Gladstone  so  timed  his  reappearance 
on  the  scene  that  any  demonstration,  friendly  or 
hostile,  was  impossible.  Members  trooping  out  to 
the  other  House  to  hear  the  Roval  Commission  read, 
came  back  to  find  him  on  the  Front  Opposition 
Bench,  not  in  the  place  of  Leader  opposite  the  brass- 
bound  box,  but  humbly  bestowed  almost  under  the 
shadow  of  the  gallery,  where  Under  Secretaries  are 
accustomed  to  sit.  It  was  noted  that,  contrary  to 
his  Parliamentary  habit,  he  had  brought  with  him 


80  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

his  hat,  the  fleeting  character  of  his  visit  being 
further  studiously  indicated  by  his  carrying  a  stick, 
and  wearing  gloves.  He  was  loudly  cheered  from 
the  Liberal  side  when  he  followed  the  official  pro- 
poser and  seconder  of  the  Speaker's  re-election.  But 
he  was  not  to  be  stirred  beyond  the  depths  of  some 
ordinary  courtly  remarks,  delivered  midway  down  the 
table,  his  hand  resting  on  his  stick. 

With  all  his  fervor  and  his  sometimes  torrential 
passion  Mr.  Gladstone  is  a  man  whose  shortest 
step  is  ordered  with  grave  deliberation.  Those  who 
saw  portents  of  coming  change  in  his  hat  and  stick 
and  gloves,  and  the  precise  position  at  the  table 
from  which  he  addressed  the  House  on  the  re-elec- 
tion of  the  Speaker,  had  speedy  confirmation  of  their 
suspicions.  On  the  12th  of  March  in  the  first  year 
of  the  new  Parliament,  he  wrote  to  Lord  Granville 
the  following  momentous  letter :  — 

"I  have  issued  a  circular  to  Members  of  Parlia- 
ment of  the  Liberal  party  on  the  occasion  of  the 
opening  of  Parliamentary  business.  But  I  feel  it  to 
be  necessary  that,  while  discharging  this  duty,  I 
should  explain  what  a  circular  could  not  convey  with 
regard  to  my  individual  position  at  the  present  time. 
I  need  not  apologize  for  addressing  these  explana- 
tions to  you.  Independently  of  other  reasons  for  so 
troubling  you,  it  is  enough  to  observe  that  you  have 
very  long  represented  the  Liberal  party,  and  have 
also  acted  on  behalf  of  the  late  Government,  from 
its  commencement  to  its  close,  in  the  House  of  Lords. 


THROWING    UP    THE   SPONGE.  81 

"For  a  variety  of  reasons  personal  to  myself,  I 
could  not  contemplate  any  unlimited  extension  of 
active  political  service;  and  I  am  anxious  that  it 
should  be  clearly  understood  by  those  friends  with 
whom  I  have  acted  in  the  direction  of  affairs,  that 
at  my  age  I  must  reserve  my  entire  freedom  to  divest 
myself  of  all  the  responsibilities  of  leadership  at  no 
distant  time.  The  need  of  rest  will  prevent  me 
from  giving  more  than  occasional  attendance  in  the 
House  of  Commons  during  the  present  Session. 

"I  should  be  desirous,  shortly  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Session  of  1875,  to  consider 
whether  there  would  be  advantage  in  my  placing  my 
services  for  a  time  at  the  disposal  of  the  Liberal 
party,  or  whether  I  should  then  claim  exemption 
from  the  duties  I  have  hitherto  discharged.  If,  how- 
ever, there  should  be  reasonable  ground  for  believing- 
that,  instead  of  the  course  which  I  have  sketched,  it 
would  be  preferable,  in  the  view  of  the  party  gen- 
erally, for  me  to  assume  at  once  the  place  of  an 
independent  member,  I  should  willingly  adopt  the 
latter  alternative.  But  I  shall  retain  all  the  desire 
1  have  hitherto  felt  for  the  welfare  of  the  party,  and 
if  the  gentlemen  composing  it  should  think  fit  either 
to  choose  a  leader  or  make  provision  ad  interim, 
with  a  view  to  the  convenience  of  the  present  year, 
the  person  designated  would,  of  course,  command 
from  me  any  assistance  which  he  might  find  occasion 
to  seek,  and  which  it  might  be  in  my  power  to 
render. " 

6 


82  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

In  spite  of  this  indication  of  desire  and  intention 
to  withdraw,  Mr.  Gladstone  still  occasionally  revis- 
ited the  House  of  Commons.  He  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  of  criticizing  the  first  Budget  of  the  new 
Ministry,  brought  in  by  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  built 
up  on  the  splendid  surplus  left  by  him  as  a  legacy  to 
his  successors.  He  replied  with  something  of  his 
ancient  fire  to  a  violently  rude  attack  made  upon 
him  by  Mr.  SmoUet,  who  accused  him  of  having 
"organized  a  Dissolution  in  secret,  and  having  by 
unworthy,  improper,  and  unconstitutional  methods, 
tried  to  seize  power." 

His  most  notable  reappearance  in  the  new  Parlia- 
ment was  in  connection  with  the  debate  on  the 
Public  Worship  Regulation  Bill.  This  measure  had 
been  brought  into  the  Lords  and  passed  through  the 
House  under  the  direction  of  Archbishop  Tait.  Mr. 
Disraeli  disclosing  a  curiously  strong  interest  in 
it,  it  suddenly  loomed  large  upon  the  Parliamentary 
arena.  The  Archbishop  had  defined  its  purpose  as 
an  effort  to  put  down  Ritualism.  Mr.  Disraeli,  in 
one  of  his  well-considered  phrases  that  immediately 
caught  on,  defined  it  as  an  attack  on  "  mass  in  mas- 
querade."  Mr.  Gladstone  unexpectedly  turned  up 
in  hot  opposition  to  the  measure,  which  he  attempted 
to  smother  under  six  resolutions. 

Interest  in  the  Bill,  intense  as  it  had  grown,  was 
for  a  while  obscured  by  a  personal  conflict  between 
Sir  William  Ilarcourt  and  Mr.  Gladstone.  One  of 
the   last  desperate  attempts  made  to  keep  the  late 


THROWING    UP   THE   SPONGE.  83 

Ministry  on  its  legs  had  been  the  recruitment  of  two 
gentlemen,  known  at  the  time  as  Mr.  Henry  James 
and  Mr.  Vernon  Harcourt.  Seated  together  on  the 
front  bench  below  the  gangway,  these  two  had  more 
effectively  worried  their  nominal  chief  than  had  the 
regular  opposition,  even  though  led  by  Mr.  Disraeli. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  Session  of  1873  there  had 
been  an  angry  scene,  in  Avhich  Mr.  Gladstone,  driven 
to  bay,  had  turned  upon  his  honorable  friends  below 
the  gangway  and  berated  them  something  after  the 
fashion  in  which  he  had  fallen  upon  the  more  inof- 
fensive Mr.  Miall.  The  next  thing  heard  in  this 
connection  was  in  November  following,  when  Mr. 
Henry  James  was  made  Attorney- General,  and  Mr. 
Vernon  Harcourt,  becoming  Solicitor-General,  came 
to  be  known  as  Sir  William.  Neither  of  the  new 
law  officers  sat  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  for  before 
the  new  Session  was  summoned  dissolution  had 
swooped  down  on  the  astonished  Commons.  Their 
ex-Ministerial  position,  otherwise,  as  far  as  Parlia- 
ment was  concerned,  a  Barmecide  feast,  entitled 
both  to  seats  on  the  Front  Opposition  Bench,  a  privi- 
lege of  which  they  forthwith  availed  themselves. 

Sir  William  Harcourt  ranged  himself  on  the  side 
of  Mr.  Disraeli  in  support  of  the  Public  Worship 
Regulation  Bill.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  his  first 
prominent  appearance  under  his  new  style  was  in 
conflict  with  the  statesman  who  had  conferred  the 
honor  upon  him.  Sir  William  did  not  mince  matters 
or  modify  phrases.     He  went  straight  for  Mr.  Glad- 


84  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

stone,  making  his  attack  the  more  bitter  by  contrast 
with  the  eulogistic  terms  in  which  he  alluded  to  Mr. 
Disraeli,  "a  leader  who  is  proud  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  of  whom  the  House  of  Commons  is 
proud."  Mr.  Gladstone,  having  at  this  stage  already 
spoken,  said  nothing  in  immediate  reply.  A  few 
days  later  he  found  opportunity  to  administer  to  his 
rebellious  colleague  a  trouncing  which  the  House 
enjoyed  with  a  zest  equalled  only  by  the  delight  with 
which  it  had  seen  Sir  William  Harcourt  biting 
at  the  hand  that  had  fed  him  with  the  Solicitor- 
Generalship. 

The  episode  had  significance  far  beyond  the  bear- 
ings of  the  Public  Worship  Bill,  inasmuch  as  the 
House  of  Commons  saw  in  it  fresh  testimony  of  what 
it  regarded  as  the  final  collapse  of  the  once  powerful 
statesman.  Sir  William  Harcourt,  it  was  argued,  was 
an  exceedingly  shrewd  man,  with  special  opportunities 
of  knowing  Mr.  Gladstone's  exact  position  and  pros- 
pects. If  he  thought  it  safe  to  turn  and  rend  him, 
hopeless  indeed  was  his  case. 

A  conclusion  which  shows  how  prone  to  error  are 
the  wisest  amongst  us. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

PAMPHLETEER. 

Parliament  was  summoned  to  meet  for  the  Session 
of  1875  on  the  5th  of  February.  Three  weeks  earlier 
Mr.  Gladstone  wrote  to  Lord  Granville  announcing 
his  final  resolve  to  retire  from  the  Leadership  of  the 
Liberal  party.  "  The  time  has,  I  think,  arrived,"  he 
wrote,  "  when  I  ought  to  revert  to  the  subject  of  the 
letter  which  I  addressed  to  you  on  March  the  12th. 
Before  determining^  whether  I  should  offer  to  assume 
a  charge  which  might  extend  over  a  length  of  time,  I 
have  reviewed  with  all  the  care  in  my  power,  a  number 
of  considerations  both  public  and  private,  of  which  a 
portion,  and  these  not  by  any  means  insignificant, 
were  not  in  existence  at  the  date  of  the  letter.  The 
result  has  been  that  I  see  no  public  advantage  in  my 
continuing  to  act  as  the  Leader  of  the  Liberal  party  ; 
and  that  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  and  after  forty-two 
years  of  a  laborious  public  life,  I  think  myself  entitled 
to  retire  on  the  present  opportunity.  This  retirement 
is  dictated  to  me  by  my  personal  views  as  to  the  best 
method  of  spending  the  closing  years  of  my  life.  I 
need  hardly  say  that  my  conduct  in  Parliament  will 
continue  to  be  governed  by  the  principles  on  which 


86  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

I  have  heretofore  acted  ;  and  whatever  arrangements 
may  be  made  for  the  treatment  of  general  business, 
and  for  the  advantage  or  convenience  of  the  Liberal 
party,  they  will  have  my  cordial  support.  I  should 
perhaps  add  that  I  am  at  present,  and  mean  for  a  short 
time  to  be,  engaged  on  a  special  matter  which  occupies 
me  closely." 

The  special  matter  upon  which  Mr.  Gladstone  was 
engaged  proved  to  be  a  crusade  against  the  Vatican, 
undertaken  with  the  ardor  of  youth  and  with  a  con- 
centrated energy  amazing  in  a  man  who  had  retired 
from  Parliamentary  and  political  life  on  the  specific 
ground  that  he  was  aweary.  In  the  preceding  year 
he  had  followed  up  his  futile  opposition  to  the  Regu- 
lation of  Public  Worship  Bill  by  writing  an  article  in 
one  of  the  monthly  magazines,  a  course  that  soon  grew 
familiar  but  was  at  the  time  regarded  as  notable  in 
an  ex-Prime  Minister.  This  was  followed  by  other 
papers  dealing  with  "  The  Church  of  England  and 
Ritualism."  This  raised  a  storm  of  theological  con- 
troversy in  which  Mr.  Gladstone  positively  revelled. 
Roman  Catholics  and  Ritualists  buzzed  about  liis  ears 
with  angry  replies,  to  which  he  made  rejoinder  in 
pamphlets.  One  bore  the  inscription,  "The  Vatican 
Decrees  and  their  Bearing  on  Civil  Allegiance."  A 
final  rejoinder  in  another  pamphlet  was  entitled 
"  Vaticanism."  Both  works  had  a  phenomenal  sale, 
and  the  tide  of  controversy  that  rose  with  them  seemed 
to  bear  Mr.  Gladstone  forever  away  from  the  Parlia- 
mentarv  shore. 


PAMPHLETEER,  87 

On  the  eve  of  the  Scvssion,  members  of  the  Liberal 
party,  a  disheartened  minority  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  had  met  at  the  Reform  Chib  to  elect  a 
leader.  Mr.  Gladstone  had  stepped  down  from  his 
high  place,  and  was  so  engrossed  in  his  wrangle  round 
the  Church  porch,  that  he  had  not  time  to  give  a 
thought  to  public  affairs,  or  a  day  to  the  duties  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  The  result  of  the  meeting 
at  the  Reform  Club  was  that  Lord  Hartington  was 
unanimously  elected  to  fill  the  thankless  post  of 
Leader  of  the  Opposition  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
He  took  his  seat  in  front  of  the  brass-bound  box,  and 
for  a  while  business  of  the  House  went  on  as  if  Mr. 
Gladstone  were  dead  and  buried.  Occasionally  he 
looked  in,  bringing  with  him  hat  and  stick  and 
gloves,  remaining  for  half  an  hour  or  so  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  front  Opposition  Bench,  where  he  found  a 
companion  in  Mr.  Bright,  and  stealing  silently  away. 

One  afternoon  in  March  of  this  vear  he  unex- 
pectedly  interposed,  delivering  a  speech  which  created 
a  profound  sensation.  It  was  on  a  Bill  introduced  by 
Mr.  Gathorne  Hardy,  then  Secretary  of  State  for  War, 
designed,  as  Mr.  Lowe  put  it,  "  to  make  commissions 
in  the  army  a  valuable  commodity."  Stung  by  this 
attempt  to  get  behind  his  own  action  in  abolishing 
purchase,  Mr.  Gladstone  spoke  with  great  animation 
and  irresistible  force.  Members  looking  from  the 
lithe,  animated  figure  standing  at  the  table  upon  the 
immobile  figure  seated  in  the  place  of  Leader  instinc- 
tively felt  that  the  whole  arrangement  was  a  farce,  to 


88  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

be  made  an  end  of  whenever  Mr.  Gladstone  felt  dis- 
posed to  return  and  claim  his  own.  But  the  time  was 
not  yet,  and  the  chief  disturbance  under  Lord  Hart- 
ington's  rule  came  from  below  the  gangway  on  his 
own  side,  whence  Mr.  Chamberlain  would  presently 
jeer  at  the  harassed  captain,  hailing  him  as  "  late 
the  Leader  of  the  Liberal  party," 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   FIERY   CROSS. 

The  Eastern  Question  developed  in  the  summer  of 
1875.  Mr.  Gladstone,  speaking  three  years  later  at 
Hawarden,  declared  that  he  had  not  opened  his  mouth 
for  one  word  of  criticism  on  the  subject  till  the  1st  of 
July,  1876.  "  When  the  Government  had,  by  sending 
the  fleet  to  Besika  Bay,  encouraged  the  Turks  in  their 
obstinate  resistance  to  reform ;  and  when  the  Prime 
Minister,  by  his  notorious  fencing  answers  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Bulgarian  atrocities,  had  shown  that  no 
reliance  could  be  placed  on  the  Government  for  the 
purposes  of  humanity  in  the  East ;  and  when  they,  by 
repelling  and  rejecting  the  Berlin  Memorandum,  had 
broken  up  the  concert  of  Europe  and  had  proposed 
nothing  themselves  in  return — till  all  these  things  had 
happened  I  never  said  a  word  in  criticism  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Government." 

On  the  23rd  of  June,  1876,  Tlie  Daily  JVeivs  pub- 
lished particulars,  furnished  by  its  Constantinople 
correspondent,  of  what  soon  came  to  be  known  through- 
out the  world  as  the  Bulgarian  atrocities.  Questions 
were  put  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament.  Mr.  Disraeli, 
replying  to  an  inquiry  by  Mr.  Forster,  jauntily  af- 
firmed that  the  story  published  in  The  Daily  News 


90  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

rested  on  nothing  more  than  "  coffee-house  babble." 
One  detail  that  had  profoundly  impressed  the  public 
mind  described  the  impalement  of  hapless  Bulgarians 
bj  the  Bashi  Bazouks.  The  truth  of  this  Mr.  Disraeli 
took  leave  to  doubt,  airily  adding,  "  In  the  East  when 
it  is  proposed  to  do  a  man  to  death,  a  much  more 
expeditious  method  of  business  is  usually  adopted." 
When  this  conversation  was  going  on  in  the  House  of 
Commons  Mr.  Gladstone  was  rusticating  at  Hawarden, 
engaged  in  preparation  of  fresh  magazine  articles. 
But  the  cry  that  went  up  from  the  sixty  villages  of 
Bulgaria,  their  homesteads  trampled  underfoot,  their 
men  tortured  to  death,  their  women  dishonored, 
found  response  in  every  fibre  of  his  frame.  He 
hurried  back  to  town  and  commenced  a  campaign 
which  ended  in  the  overthrow  of  an  apparently  im- 
pregnable Ministry. 

He  occupied  the  earliest  weeks  of  tlie  Parliamentary 
recess  (1876)  in  writing  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Bul- 
garian Horrors."  "  Let  us,"  he  said,  in  a  passage 
containing  a  memorable  phrase,  "  insist  that  our  Gov- 
ernment, wliich  has  been  working  in  one  direction, 
shall  work  in  the  other,  and  shall  apply  all  its  vigor 
to  concur  with  the  other  States  of  Europe  in  obtaining 
the  extinction  of  the  Turkish  executive  power  in  Bul- 
garia. Let  the  Turks  now  carry  away  their  abuses  in 
the  only  possible  manner,  namely,  by  carrying  off 
themselves.  Their  Zaptiehs  and  their  Mudirs,  their 
Bimbashis,  and  their  Yuzbachis,  their  Kaimakams  and 
their  Pashas,  one  and  all,  bag  and  baggage,  shall,  I 


THE  FIERY  CROSS.  91 

hope,  clear  out  from  the  province  they  have  desolated 
and  profaned." 

He  followed  up  the  hurling  of  this  thunderbolt  by 
an  address  to  his  constituents  mustered  on  Blackhcath. 
Recurring  to  this  epoch  many  years  after,  he  observed : 
"  After  the  Parliamentary  Session  of  1876,  I  thought 
the  agitation  against  the  Turks  in  Bulgaria  was  all  up 
for  a  time.  I  knew  it  would  revive,  and  I  thought  it 
would  revive  in  the  next  Session.  But  I  gave  it  up 
for  the  moment  until  I  saw  in  the  newspapers,  by  ac- 
cident, that  the  working-men  of  England  were  going 
to  meet  in  London  on  the  subject.  I  said  to  myself 
that  moment, '  Then  it  is  alive  ! '  Seeing  that  it  was 
alive,  I  did  what  I  could,  and  we  all  did  what  we  could, 
and  we  stirred  the  country  to  such  an  extent  that  if 
the  Government  had  dissolved  Parliament  at  that 
moment  I  do  not  believe  there  would  have  been  a 
hundred  men  returned  to  support  its  policy." 

In  a  fine  passage  of  this  Blackheath  speech  he  ad- 
vocated common  action  between  England  and  Russia, 
who  were  chiefly  responsible  in  the  matter.  "  Upon 
the  concord  and  hearty  co-operation  —  not  upon  a  mere 
hollow  truce  between  England  and  Russia,  but  upon 
their  concord  and  hearty,  cordial  co-operation  —  de- 
pends a  good  settlement  of  this  question.  Their  power 
is  immense.  The  power  of  Russia  by  land  for  acting 
upon  these  countries,  as  against  Turkey,  is  perfectly 
resistless.  The  power  of  England  by  sea  is  scarcely 
less  important  at  this  moment.  For  I  ask  you,  what 
would  be  the  condition  of  the  Turkish  armies  if  the 


92  3IR.   GLADSTONE. 

British  Admiral,  now  in  Besika  Bay,  were  to  inform 
the  Government  of  Constantinople  that  from  that  hour, 
until  atonement  had  been  made  —  until  punishment 
had  descended,  until  justice  had  been  vindicated  —  not 
a  man,  nor  a  ship,  nor  a  boat,  should  cross  the  waters 
of  the  Bosphorus,  or  the  cloudy  Euxine,  or  the  bright 
^gean,  to  carry  aid  to  the  Turkish  troops  ?  " 

By  this  time  Mr.  Disraeli,  now  Lord  Beaconsfield, 
discovered  he  had  made  a  mistake  in  treating  with 
jocularity  charges  promptly  substantiated  by  the 
official  report  of  Mr.  Baring.  It  was  felt  that  Mr. 
Gladstone's  Blackheath  speech  must  be  replied  to. 
So  Lord  Beaconsfield,  going  down  to  Aylesbury, 
described  the  conduct  of  the  Opposition  in  this  matter 
as  "  worse  than  any  Bulgarian  atrocity."  That  did 
not  mend  matters,  nor  did  further  heated  denunciation 
of  "  designing  politicians  who  take  advantage  of  sub- 
lime sentiments  and  apply  them  for  the  furtherance 
of  their  sinister  ends." 

There  was  no  one  found  to  palliate  the  action  of  the 
Turks  in  Bulgaria,  but  there  were  many  who,  evading 
the  issue,  bitterly  attacked  Mr.  Gladstone.  He  was 
not  even  safe  from  personal  violence  as  he  walked 
through  the  streets  of  London,  and  when  he  sought 
the  shelter  of  his  own  house,  his  windows  were  broken 
by  an  infuriated  mob.  The  "  Jingo"  Press  did  not  get 
quite  so  far  as  a  Turkish  newspaper  which  printed  a 
detailed  biography  of  "the  man  Gladstone,  projector 
of  mischief."  This  set  forth  how  he  was  "  born  in  1796, 
the  offspring  of  the  headlong  passion  of  a  Bulgarian 


THE  FIERY  CROSS.  93 

named  Demitri,  the  servant  of  a  pig  merchant  named 
Nestory."  He  went  to  London  in  charge  of  some 
pigs  his  master  desired  to  sell.  Desiring  to  pass 
himself  off  as  an  Englishman,  he  changed  his  Bul- 
garian name,  Grozadin,  to  Gladstone.  "  His  gluttony 
for  gold  makes  Gladstone  look  yellow.  According  to 
those  who  know  him  he  is  of  middlinor  heiixht,  with  a 
yellow  face,  wearing  closely  cut  whiskers  in  the  Euro- 
pean style,  and  as  a  sign  of  his  satanic  spirit  his  fore- 
head and  upper  forehead  are  bare.  His  evil  temper 
has  made  his  hair  fall  off,  so  that  from  a  distance  he 
might  be  taken  for  quite  bald."  This  was,  of  course, 
too  grotesque  for  imitation  in  English  newspapers. 
But  some  managed  to  distinguish  themselves  and  earn 
the  approval  of  the  music-halls  by  the  violence  of  their 
attack  upon  the  denouncer  of  Turkish  infamy. 

Whilst  recovering  something  of  his  ancient  power 
in  the  provinces,  Mr.  Gladstone  was  by  no  means 
sustained  by  the  full  support  of  the  Liberal  members 
of  the  House  of  Commons.  It  was  then  recognized 
as  an  awkward  and  an  inconvenient  thing  that,  after 
all  that  had  happened  consequent  on  the  arrangement 
at  the  Reform  Club  in  1875,  he  should  be  sweeping 
back  with  torrential  force  to  his  old  position  as  Leader. 
A  feeling  of  loyalty  to  Lord  Hartington,  who  had  done 
the  very  best  possible  for  him  in  the  position  to  which 
he  had  been  unwillingly  summoned,  influenced  some 
Liberal  members.  Others  were  not  absolutely  free 
from  sympathy  with,  or  apprehension  of,  the  Jingo 
spirit  just  then  rampant. 


94  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

Early  in  the  Session  of  1877  Mr.  Gladstone  tabled 
five  resolutions  on  the  Eastern  Question.  They 
embodied  an  expression  of  dissatisfaction  with  the 
conduct  of  the  Porte,  and  a  declaration  that  until 
guarantees  on  behalf  of  her  subject  populations  were 
forthcoming,  Turkey  should  be  deemed  to  have  lost 
all  claim  to  receive  either  the  material  or  moral  sup- 
port of  the  British  Crown.  The  movement  was  re- 
ceived very  coldly  by  the  Liberals.  Sir  John  Lubbock 
gave  notice  that,  on  the  resolutions  being  moved,  he 
would  move  the  previous  question.  There  was  talk 
of  a  serious  split  in  the  party,  and  anxious  negotia- 
tions were  carried  on.  These  resulted  in  patching  up 
the  breach,  and  when,  at  the  close  of  five  nights'  de- 
bate, the  division  took  place,  Mr.  Gladstone  received 
the  support  of  his  colleagues  on  the  Front  Bench,  and 
of  the  main  body  of  the  Liberal  party.  But  the  reso- 
lutions were  negatived  by  a  majority  of  131  in  a  House 
of  577  members. 

This  seemed  a  hopeless  struggle.  Undeterred,  Mr. 
Gladstone  fought  on.  Feeling  against  him  on  the 
part  of  the  majority  of  the  House  ran  so  high  that 
one  niglit  in  the  Session  of  1878,  as  he  was  proceeding 
to  record  his  vote,  a  mob  of  Conservative  gentlemen 
congregating  at  the  glass  door  in  the  other  division 
lol)by  set  up  a  prolonged  yell  of  execration,  distinctly 
heard  in  the  House.  This  did  not  cow  him,  nor  did 
bitter  attacks  in  the  newspapers,  nor  the  lukewarm- 
ness  of  friends  make  him  quail.  "  My  purpose,"  he 
said  at  Oxford,  speaking  on  the  eve  of  the  Session  of 


THE   FIERY  CROSS.  95 

18Y8,  "  is,  day  and  night,  week  by  week,  month  by 
month,  to  counter-work  what  I  believe  to  be  the  pur- 
pose of  Lord  Beaconsfield." 

That  resolve  was  finally  crowned  by  the  first  Mid- 
lothian campaign,  which  opened  in  November,  1879. 
The  county  of  Edinburgh  was  represented  by  Lord 
Dalkeith,  son  and  heir  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch.  It 
seemed  an  impregnable  fortress  of  Conservatism.  If 
it  could  be  stormed,  anything  else  on  the  line  of  battle 
might  surely  be  carried.  Mr.  Gladstone  undertook 
the  task  with  breezy  courage  and  contagious  con- 
fidence. His  journey  northward  partook  of  the 
character  of  a  triumphal  procession.  At  Carlisle, 
Hawick,  Galashiels,  wherever  the  train  stopped,  the 
populace  mustered  to  cheer  the  champion  of  humanity 
even  against  Turkey.  All  Edinburgh  seemed  to  have 
turned  out  in  the  streets  to  welcome  him,  a  torch- 
light procession  accompanying  him  on  his  way  to 
Dalmeny,  where  he  became  the  guest  of  Lord  Rose- 
bery.  He  remained  in  Scotland  a  fortnight,  speaking 
sometimes  twice  a  day  to  enormous  audiences  glowing 
in  the  fire  of  his  eloquence.  His  homeward  journey 
was  marked  by  outbursts  of  popular  enthusiasm,  even 
of  fuller  tide  than  that  which  greeted  him  when  he 
set  out. 

In  the  spring  of  1880,  Lord  Bcaconsfield,  encouraged 
by  success  at  the  poll  in  South wark  and  Liverpool,  re- 
solved to  chance  a  general  election.  The  announce- 
ment of  the  proximate  dissolution  was  the  signal  for 
Mr.  Gladstone's  once  more   carrying  the  fiery  cross 


96  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

beyond  the  Tweed.  Upon  Midlothian  were  centred  the 
interests  of  the  general  election.  He  won  the  seat  by 
1,579  votes  against  1,368  polled  by  Lord  Dalkeith. 
When  the  final  poll  of  the  general  election  was  made 
up  it  appeared  that  the  new  House  of  Commons  was 
composed  of  354  Liberals,  against  236  Conservatives 
and  62  Home  Rulers,  —  a  Liberal  majority  of  bQ  over 
a  possible  combination  of  antagonists. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PREMIER    AGAIN. 

Lord  Beaconsfield  did  not  wait  for  the  final  returns 
from  the  poll  before  admitting  his  defeat.  He  placed 
his  resignation  in  the  hands  of  Her  Majesty,  and  the 
question  arose,  Who  is  to  succeed  him  as  First  Min- 
ister of  the  Crown  ?  From  one  point  of  view  there 
seemed  no  possibility  of  diversity  of  answer.  One 
man  single-handed,  fighting  against  enormous  odds, 
had  broken  down  the  strength  of  the  most  powerful 
Conservative  Ministry  of  modern  times,  and  on  its 
ruins  had  built  up  a  massive  structure  of  Liberal 
majority.  The  country  called  aloud  for  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, and  viewed  with  impatience  efforts  made  to  set 
aside  his  claims.  These  were  not  without  justification, 
though  they  seemed  at  the  time  peculiarly  persistent. 
Lord  Hartington  was  still  nominally  the  Leader  of  the 
Liberal  party.  He  had  at  great  sacrifice  of  personal 
inclination  come  forward  at  a  critical  time  and  under- 
taken the  drudgery  of  the  Leadership.  It  was  only 
courteous  to  give  him  the  opportunity  of  declining  the 
task  of  forming  a  Ministry.  But  when  Lord  Harting- 
ton, in  spite,  it  is  understood,  of  unusual  pressure  put 
upon  him,  shrank  from  attempting  to  achieve  the  im- 
possible, attention  was  turned  in  another  direction. 
Lord   Granville  was  sent  for  and  invited  to  form  a 

7 


98  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

Ministry.  Not  less  clearly  than  Lord  Hartington  he 
recognized  the  inevitableness  of  the  situation,  and 
pointed  to  Mr.  Gladstone  as  the  only  possible  Premier. 
Finally  came  the  summons  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  who 
promptly  undertook  a  task  to  which  he  had  earlier 
been  called  by  the  voice  of  an  overpowering  majority 
of  the  people. 

When  the  Ministry  was  completed,  the  list  pre- 
sented an  appearance  of  strength  and  stability  that 
promised  a  long,  honorable,  and  useful  career.  Lord 
Granville  and  Lord  Hartington,  cordially  accepting 
the  situation,  resumed  their  allegiance  to  their  former 
chief,  the  one  serving  the  new  Ministry  as  Foreign 
Secretary,  the  other  as  Secretary  of  State  for  India. 
Mr.  Gladstone  coupled  with  the  office  of  First  Lord  of 
the  Treasury  the  duties  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exche- 
quer. Sir  William  Harcourt,  preferring  not  to  pursue 
the  pathway  opened  for  him  when  he  was  made  a  Law 
Officer  of  the  Crown,  became  Home  Secretary.  Mr. 
Childers  was  Secretary  for  War.  Lord  Kimberley 
cared  for  the  Colonies.  Lord  Northbrook  was  First 
Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  Mr.  Forster  was  Chief  Secre- 
tary for  Ireland.  The  Earl  of  Selborne  presided  in 
the  House  of  Lords  as  Lord  Chancellor.  Earl  Spencer 
was  Lord  President  of  the  Council.  The  Duke  of 
Argyll  and  Mr.  Bright  divided  between  them  the 
posts  of  Lord  Privy  Seal  and  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy 
of  Lancaster,  whose  importance  arose  almost  exclu- 
sively from  the  fact  that  they  carried  with  them  seats 
in  the  Cabinet. 


PREMIER   AGAIN.  99 

As  the  stirring  of  the  depths  of  Radicalism  had 
had  much  to  do  with  the  great  triumph  at  the  polls, 
Mr.  Gladstone  found  it  necessary  to  leaven  his  admin- 
istration by  material  drawn  from  below  the  gangway. 
The  two  most  prominent  members  seated  in  that  part 
of  the  House  during  the  preceding  Parliament  were 
Sir  Charles  Dilke  and  Mr.  Chamberlain.  That  both 
would  have  office  conferred  upon  them  was  regarded 
as  a  matter  of  course.  It  was  also  the  general  im- 
pression, based  upon  consideration  of  his  longer 
Parliamentary  standing,  that  Sir  Charles  Dilke 
would  receive  the  higher  promotion.  There  was 
some  surprise  when  it  was  announced  that  Mr. 
Chamberlain  at  a  stride  took  his  seat  in  the  Cabinet 
as  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Sir  Charles 
Dilke  being  content  with  the  post  of  Under  Secretary 
for  Foreign  Affairs. 

Other  new  blood  infused  into  the  Ministry  was 
contributed  by  Mr.  Herschell,  who  was  knighted  and 
made  Solicitor-General;  Mr.  Osborne  Morgan,  who 
became  Judge-Advocate-General ;  Mr.  Fawcett,  Post- 
master-General ;  Mr.  Mundella,  Vice-President  of 
the  Council ;  whilst  among  the  Under  Secretaries  for 
the  Home  Department  modestly  figured  the  name  of 
Arthur  Wellesley  Peel,  he  and  the  House  all  un- 
knowing that  before  many  years  had  passed  he  would 
prove  himself  one  of  the  best  Speakers  that  ever  sat 
in  the  Chair. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE   BRADLAUGH    BLIGHT. 

With  a  well-trimmed  ship,  splendidly  manned,  and 
the  full  breeze  of  popular  favor  behind  it,  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's second  Administration  set  out  on  what  prom- 
ised to  be  a  pleasant  and  prosperous  voyage.  But 
before  it  was  warped  out  of  dock  there  befel  an  inci- 
dent fraught  with  consequences  which,  more  than 
anything  else,  brought  about  final  shipwreck.  The 
cloud  was  at  first  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand.  The 
new  Parliament  met  on  the  29th  of  April,  and,  Mr. 
Brand  having  been  re-elected  Speaker,  the  process 
of  swearing-in  Members  proceeded.  On  the  third 
day  Mr.  Bradlaugh,  who  had  been  elected  member 
for  Northampton,  claimed  the  right  to  make  affirma- 
tion instead  of  taking  the  oath.  That  is  an  alterna- 
tive, selection  of  which  by  a  member  in  ordinary 
circumstances  attracts  no  notice.  Mr.  Bright,  pres- 
ently coming  back  after  re-election,  made  affirmation, 
as  his  brother  and  other  Members  of  his  faith  had 
done.  Mr.  Bradlaugh's  case  was  notoriously  differ- 
ent. He  admitted  himself  disqualified  from  taking 
the  oath  because  he  did  not  believe  in  the  existence 
of  the  Deity  invoked. 

Had  the  Speaker,    when  privately  approached  on 
the  sul)jcct,   acceded  to  the  member  for  Northamp- 


THE  BRA  DLA  UG'U  BtlGH-T.      .  >'  i  ■'.  '  101 

ton's  request  and  permitted  him  to  make  affirmation, 
the  incident  would  have  escaped  the  attention  of  the 
House,  the  whole  course  of  the  Session,  and  of  some 
that  succeeded  it,  would  have  been  altered.  That 
Mr.  Bradlaugh  was  right  in  his  contention  was,  after 
years  of  controversy,  conceded  by  the  House,  which 
went  the  length  of  authorizing  the  erasure  from  its 
journal  of  a  declaration  to  the  contrary.  The 
Speaker  shrank  from  taking  on  himself  responsibil- 
ity in  the  matter.  He  invited  the  House  to  deal 
with  it,  and  on  the  motion  of  Lord  Frederick  Caven- 
dish, one  of  the  minor  Ministers  whom  the  absurd 
rules  controlling  the  acceptance  of  office  permitted 
to  be  present  at  this  juncture,  a  Select  Committee 
was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  subject.  Sir 
Stafford  Northcote  seconded  the  motion,  and  though 
there  was  some  restiveness  displayed  by  the  young 
Tory  lions,  no  serious  indication  was  forthcoming  of 
all  this  apparently  simple  episode  portended. 

A  week  later,  when  motion  was  made  to  nominate 
the  Committee,  the  breeze  began  to  stir.  Sir  Henry 
Wolff,  making  his  first  appearance  in  this  memor- 
able controversy,  moved  the  previous  question,  and 
was  seconded  in  a  noisy  speech  by  Mr.  Stanley  Leigh- 
ton.  The  leaders  of  the  Opposition  still  hung  back. 
What  movement  they  made  was  in  support  of  the 
Ministry.  Sir  John  Holker,  ex-Attorney-General, 
advised  Sir  Henry  Wolff  not  to  proceed  with  his 
amendment,  advice  which  he  showed  a  disposition 
to  accept.     But  the  Lush  members  now  took  up  the 


102  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

running,  and  a  division  was  forced,  the  motion  being 
carried  by  a  considerable  majority. 

At  this  stage  the  House,  hitherto  sheep  without 
shepherds,  adjourned  in  order  to  complete  the  re- 
election of  Ministers.  In  this  interval  the  militant 
party  had  opportunity  of  considering  a  situation  the 
potentialities  of  which,  as  affording  a  means  of  har- 
assing the  Government,  daily  grew.  The  interposi- 
tion of  the  Irish  members  was  full  of  hope.  They 
as  Catholics  would  be  impelled  to  resist  to  the 
utmost  the  incursion  upon  the  House  of  Commons  of 
an  avowed  Atheist.  Amongst  Liberals  there  were 
many  devout  men  who  would  shrink  even  at  Mr. 
Gladstone's  bidding  from  supporting  the  claims  of 
Mr.  Bradlaugh.  Right  honorable  gentlemen  on  the 
Front  Opposition  Bench  were  the  chief  difficulty, 
with  the  keener-sighted  tacticians  below  the  gang- 
way. But  if  they  would  not  move  they  must  be 
shoved  ahead. 

The  Committee,  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  chair- 
man, decided  that  Mr.  Bradlaugh,  not  belonging  to 
the  class  of  persons  who  like  Quakers  and  Moravians 
are  by  law  exempt  from  the  necessity  of  taking  the 
oath,  might  not  make  affirmation  on  taking  his  seat. 
Mr.  Bradlaugli  met  this  difficulty  by  an  unexpected 
move.  Since  the  House  bv  the  decision  of  its  com- 
mittce  objected  to  his  making  affirmation,  he  was 
ready  to  ol)lige  it  by  taking  the  oath. 

On  the  21st  of  May  (1880)  the  House  resumed  its 
sittings,  its  crowded  appearance  testifying  to  high 


rilE   BllADLAUGII  BLIGHT.  103 

expectation.  The  empty  spaces  on  the  Treasury 
Bench  were  now  filled  up  by  Ministers  duly  re- 
elected. Mr.  Bradlaugh  was  observed  standing  below 
the  bar  in  the  position  assigned  to  new  mem])ers 
waiting  to  be  sworn  in.  The  Speaker  pronounced 
the  usual  formula,  "Members  desiring  to  take  their 
scats  will  please  come  to  the  table."  Thereupon 
Mr.  Bradlaugh  strode  forward.  Sir  Henry  Wolff, 
who  had  obtained  a  convenient  strategic  position  at 
the  corner  of  the  Front  Bench  below  the  gangway, 
sprang  to  his  feet  with  loud  cry,  "  I  object  I  "  The 
House  was  filled  with  sudden  uproar.  Sir  Henry 
Wolff  was  on  his  feet  on  one  side.  Immediately 
opposite  him  Mr.  Dillwyn  upstanding,  both  gesticu- 
lating, whilst  at  the  table  stood  Mr.  Bradlaugh  with 
hand  outstretched  to  take  the  oath  Sir  Erskine  May, 
then  clerk  at  the  table,  had,  in  the  ordinary  perform- 
ance of  his  duty,  advanced  to  tender  to  him. 

Mr.  Bradlaugh  presently  withdrawing  in  obedience 
to  instructions  from  the  Speaker,  animated  debate 
ensued.  Sir  Henry  Wolff  moved  that  Mr.  Bradlaugh 
be  not  allowed  to  take  the  oath.  Mr.  Gladstone 
now  interposed,  moving  as  an  amendment  that  the 
case  be  referred  to  a  Select  Committee,  with  instruc- 
tions to  consider  and  report  whether  the  House  had 
any  right,  founded  on  precedent  or  otherwise,  by  a 
resolution  to  prevent  a  duly  elected  member  from 
taking  the  oath.  The  progress  made  since  the  busi- 
ness first  opened  was  testified  to  by  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote  now  throwinfr  in  his  lot  with  the  militant 


104  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

party  below  the  gangway.  He  declared  his  opposi- 
tion to  Mr.  Gladstone's  proposal,  and  his  readiness 
to  vote  with  Sir  Henry  Wolff.  The  debate  was 
adjourned  till  the  following  Monday,  when  Lord 
Randolph  Churchill  made  his  first  appearance  on  the 
scene,  creating  a  profound  impression  by  the  vigor 
with  which  he  supported  Sir  Henry  Wolff's  motion. 
On  a  division  Mr.  Gladstone's  proposal  for  a  new 
Committee  was  carried  by  289  against  214,  —  a  sig- 
nificant diminution  of  the  normal  Ministerial  major- 
ity that  inspired  the  now  united  Opposition  to  fresh 
effort. 

The  ball  set  rolling  was  kicked  with  increasing 
vigor.  From  the  Opposition  point  of  view  the  con- 
troversy served  a  double  debt  to  pay.  It  not  only 
harassed  the  Government,  and  sowed  the  seed  of  dis- 
cord within  its  ranks,  but  b}''  filling  up  time  it  pre- 
vented the  accomplishment  of  those  large  important 
Liberal  measures  which  Mr.  Gladstone,  fresh  from 
a  great  victory  at  the  poll,  was  eager  to  put  forward. 

As  will  appear  from  this  brief  narrative,  Sir  Henry 
Wolff  was  the  actual  orio-inator  of  the  cleverlv  con- 
ceived  and  ably  engineered  cabal.  Lord  Randolph 
Churchill,  coming  on  the  scene  a  little  later  in  the 
day,  promptly  took  the  lead.  Mr.  John  Gorst  was 
recruited  for  active  service,  and  forthwith  was  created 
—  three  all  told  —  the  historic  Fourth  Party.  Mr. 
Arthur  Balfour  later  entered  upon  a  sort  of  novitiate. 
But  he  never  fully  took  the  vows,  or  altogether  was 
one  of  the  Brotherhood. 


THE  BllADLAUGll  BLIGHT.  105 

They  were  ready  to  harass  the  Government  on  any 
score,  but  the  Bradlaugh  Question,  as  the  most 
promising,  was  cherished  with  infinite  care  and 
assiduity.  The  second  Select  Committee  nominated 
by  Mr.  Gladstone  came  to  the  conclusion  that,  whilst 
Mr.  Bradlaugh  might  not  take  the  oath,  there  was 
no  reason  why  he  should  not  be  permitted  to  affirm, 
assuming  the  responsibility  of  any  legal  consequences 
that  might  follow.  Mr.  Bradlaugh,  whose  complais- 
ance was  illimitable,  went  back  to  his  original 
proposal  to  affirm.  On  his  behalf  Mr.  Labouchere 
moved  a  resolution  authorizing  the  member  for 
Northampton  to  make  affirmation.  On  this  the 
House  debated  through  two  long  nights.  Mr.  Bright 
interposed,  making  a  powerful  and  eloquent  appeal 
for  toleration.  On  the  second  night  Mr.  Gladstone 
spoke  to  a  crowded  and  excited  House.  It  was 
known  by  this  time  that  the  Government  were  in  a 
tight  place.  Earlier  efforts  to  obtain  full  inquiry 
had  resulted  in  significant  diminution  of  their  major- 
ity on  the  very  threshold  of  the  new  Parliament. 
Inquiries  made  by  the  Whips  pointed  to  the  conclu- 
sion that,  if  Ministers  associated  themselves  with 
Mr.  Labouchere's  motion  they  would  suffer  defeat. 
In  this  dilemma  Mr.  Gladstone  adopted  an  atti- 
tude that  grew  familiar  through  the  long-continued 
struggle.  "We  believe  it  to  be  our  duty,"  he  said, 
"frankly  to  offer  our  best  advice  in  circumstances 
for  which  we  are  in  no  way  responsible,  and  then  to 
leave  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  the  House." 


106  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

This  way  of  putting  the  question  is  thoroughly 
understood  in  the  House  of  Commons.  It  simply 
means  that  ordinary  supporters  of  the  Government 
are  at  liberty,  in  this  particular  case,  to  follow  their 
personal  convictions  and  inclinations,  voting,  if  they 
please,  against  Ministers  without  incurring  the  re- 
sponsibility of  imperilling  the  position  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. Sir  Hardinge  Giffard  had  met  Mr. 
Labouchere's  motion  with  an  amendment  declaring 
that  Mr.  Bradlaugh  be  permitted  neither  to  take  the 
oath  nor  to  affirm.  Shortly  after  midnight  the  divis- 
ion was  called  in  a  House  of  over  500  members, 
strung  to  a  pitch  of  highest  excitement.  It  being  a 
private  member's  motion  there  was  no  question  of 
the  action  of  the  Ministerial  tellers.  Mr.  Labou- 
chere  and  the  seconder  of  the  motion  "  told  "  the 
Ayes,  but  it  was  Mr.  Rowland  Winn  and  Sir  William 
Dyke,  official  Whips  of  the  Opposition,  that  led  the 
Noes,  gathering  into  the  unaccustomed  lobby  some 
devout  Liberals,  whilst  many  more,  stopping  short 
of  actual  revolt  against  Mr.  Gladstone's  lead,  ab- 
stained from  voting.  When  the  paper  was  handed 
to  Mr.  Winn  in  token  that  the  Opposition  had 
triumphed  there  followed  a  scene  of  mad  delight, 
members  of  the  Opposition  actually  embracing  each 
other  in  the  ecstasy  of  delight  at  a  turn  of  events  in 
which  they  had  at  one  blow  honored  God  and  stricken 
Mr.  Gladstone.  When  silence  was  restored  Mr. 
Winn  read  out  the  figures  showing  that  230  had 
voted  for  the  motion  and  275  against.     Amid  renewed 


THE  BRADLAUGII  BLIGHT.  107 

cheering  Sir  Plardingc  Giffard's  motion  was  carried 
without  spoken  dissent,  and  on  the  journals  of  the 
House  was  entered  the  resolution  declaring  Mr. 
Bradlaugh  incompetent  to  sit  as  a  member. 

Nearly  eleven  years  later  the  member  for  North- 
ampton lay  dying  in  his  modest  home  in  Circus  Road. 
Once  more, for  the  last  time,  the  House  of  Commons  was 
agitated  by  "  the  Bradlaugh  Question."  Motion  was 
made  that  the  House  should  expunge  from  its  journals 
the  resolution  entered  in  the  early  days  of  the  great 
Liberal  Parliament.  It  was  a  hard  task  to  impose. 
Already  the  House  had  tacitly  admitted  its  error,  and 
Mr.  Bradlaugh,  after  hopelessly  fighting  against  Con- 
servative conviction  when  Mr.  Gladstone  was  in  office, 
was  permitted  quietly  to  take  his  seat  as  soon  as  a 
Conservative  majority  made  possible  a  Conservative 
Ministry.  Since  the  incoming  of  Lord  Salisbury's 
Government,  in  1886,  Mr.  Bradlaugh,  again  trium- 
phantly re-elected  at  Northampton,  had  been  accepted 
as  one  of  the  most  useful  and  most  moderate  mem- 
bers of  the  House.  That  was  one  thing.  It  was 
quite  another  for  the  Imperial  House  of  Commons 
publicly  to  put  on  the  white  sheet  and,  candle  in  hand, 
admit  that  it  was  in  error  when,  in  June,  1880,  it 
had  followed  the  leadership  of  Sir  Hardinge  Giffard, 
posed  against  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Bright. 

The  House  of  Commons,  though  prone  to  be  led 
astray  by  passion  and  prejudice,  is,  in  the  end,  ever 
just  and  generous.  Without  a  dissentient  vote,  it 
agreed   to   the   expunging   of    the   resolution ;  some 


108  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

who  had  prominently  supported  it  generously  regret- 
ting that  at  the  hour  the  decision  took  effect  Death 
had  Mr.  Bradlaugh  in  too  close  grip  for  him  to  learn 
the  glad  tidings. 

Between  these  two  dates,  1880  and  1891,  a  great 
deal  happened,  giving  prominence  to  Mr.  Bradlaugh 
and  his  claim  to  represent  Northampton  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  Beaten  in  the  Courts  of  Law,  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  House  of  Commons  barred  against  him, 
he  came  up  time  after  time,  was  thrice  heard  at  the 
bar,  and  once  forcibly  thrust  forth  from  the  Lobby  of 
the  House.  Mr.  Gladstone  persisted  in  his  attitude 
of  non-official  connection  with  the  matter.  When  divi- 
sions were  taken  he  voted  in  the  sense  that  governed 
the  final  conclusion  of  the  House.  But,  as  he  pointed 
out,  in  this  matter  he  was  clearly  not  Leader,  and  he 
relegated  to  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  the  duty  of  leading 
the  House  whenever  the  Bradlaugh  business  came 
up. 

When  the  record  of  his  long  and  busy  life  comes  to 
be  studied  by  posterity,  there  will  surely  be  nothing 
that  redounds  with  fuller  force  to  his  credit  than  his 
attitude  and  action  in  this  pitiful  controversy.  For 
a  man  of  his  devotional  habits,  his  strong,  ever-present 
faith  in  God,  it  must  have  been  not  without  pained 
effort  that  he  ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  an  avowed 
Atheist.  It  chanced  that  the  Atheist  in  this  par- 
ticular quarrel  had  truth  and  justice  on  his  side  ;  and 
for  truth  and  justice  Mr.  Gladstone  has  always  been 
ready  to  fight  against  any  odds.     Deserted  by  some 


rUE  BRADLAUGII  BLIGHT.  109 

of  the  most  esteemed  of  his  followers,  beaten  over  and 
over  again  in  the  division  lobby,  with  Lord  Randolph 
Churchill  and  Sir  Henry  Wolff  avowed  and  accepted 
champions  of  Christianity,  he,  fighting  on  the  other 
side,  contributed  to  the  recurrent  debate  some  of  the 
finest  speeches  the  House  had  listened  to  even  from 
his  lips. 

In  1883  the  Government  made  one  desperate 
attempt  to  put  an  end  to  a  controversy  which,  dili- 
gently fed,  clogged  the  wheels  of  public  business, 
and  slowly  but  surely  undermined  the  authority  of 
Government.  A  Bill  was  brought  in,  extending  the 
conditions  under  wliich  a  man  might  claim  to  make 
affirmation.  On  the  second  reading  Mr.  Gladstone 
delivered  a  speech,  the  effect  of  which  was  seen  in  the 
division-lobby.  "  I  have  no  fear  of  Atheism  in  this 
House,"  he  said,  in  a  concluding  passage.  "  Truth  is 
the  expression  of  the  Divine  mind,  and,  however 
little  our  feeble  vision  may  be  able  to  discern  the 
means  by  which  God  may  provide  for  its  preservation, 
we  may  leave  the  matter  in  His  hands,  and  we  may  be 
sure  that  a  firm  and  courageous  application  of  every 
principle  of  equity  and  of  justice  is  the  best  method  we 
can  adopt  for  the  preservation  and  influence  of  truth. 
I  must  painfully  record  my  opinion  that  grave  injury 
has  been  done  to  religion  in  many  minds  —  not  in  in- 
structed minds,  but  in  those  which  are  ill-instructed 
or  partially  instructed,  and  which  have  large  claims  on 
our  consideration  —  in  consequence  of  steps  which  have, 
unhappily,  been  taken.     Great  mischief  has  been  done 


110  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

iu  many  minds  through  the  resistance  offered  to  a  man 
elected  by  the  constituency  of  Northampton,  which  a 
portion  of  the  people  believe  to  be  unjust.  When 
they  see  the  profession  of  religion,  and  the  interest  of 
religion,  ostensibly  associated  with  what  they  are 
deeply  convinced  is  injustice,  they  are  led  to  questions 
about  religion  itself.  Unbelief  attracts  a  sympathy 
which  it  would  not  otherwise  enjoy,  and  the  upshot  is 
to  impair  those  convictions  and  that  religious  faith 
the  loss  of  which  I  believe  to  be  the  most  inexpressible 
calamity  which  can  fall  either  upon  a  man  or  upon  a 
nation." 

This  great  speech  very  nearly  won  the  day.  Up  to 
the  last  it  was  thought  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill 
would  be  carried.  But  when  all  were  "told"  the 
paper  was  again  handed  to  Mr.  Rowland  Winn  in  token 
of  the  further  triumph  of  intolerance.  "  Ayes  to  the 
right,  289  ;  Noes  to  the  left,  292."  Only  a  majority  of 
three.  But  it  served,  and  Mr.  Gladstone,  finally  re- 
tiring from  the  conflict,  left  it  to  a  Conservative  Min- 
istry, with  a  large  majority  at  their  back,  in  future 
years  to  consent  to  the  quiet  seating  of  Mr.  Bradlaugh 
as  member  for  Northampton. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    FOURTH    PARTY. 

The  Fourth  Party,  having  tasted  blood,  were  not  in- 
clined to  withdraw  from  the  hunt,  were  rather  prone 
to  pursue  it  with  added  zest.  In  ordinary  cases  a 
Government  is  fronted  by  a  regular  Opposition  of 
more  or  less  personal  ability  and  numerical  force.  It 
was  Mr.  Gladstone's  ill-fortune,  developed  in  the 
earliest  days  of  his  second  Administration,  to  be 
faced  by  not  one  Opposition,  but  four.  There  was 
the  regular  Opposition  led  by  Sir  Stafford  Northcote. 
There  was  the  Fourth  Party  led  by  Lord  Randolph 
Churchill ;  there  were  the  Irish  members  led  by  Mr. 
Parnell ;  and  there  were  sections  of  his  own  party, 
captained  by  various  individuals  in  succession,  enjoy- 
ino:  in  common  the  conviction  that  thev  knew  a  j^reat 
deal  better  than  their  titular  leader,  and  could  manage 
Imperial  and  Parliamentary  business  with  greater 
advantage  to  the  State. 

Of  all,  the  Fourth  Party,  numerically  the  smallest, 
was  the  most  dangerous,  and  through  the  life  of  the 
Parliament  wrought  more  harm  to  Mr.  Gladstone  than 
did  any  other.  We  have  seen  how  they  engineered 
the  Bradlaugh  difficulty,  compelling  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote   and   his  colleagues   on  the   Front  Bencli, 


112  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

in  opposition  to  their  earlier  inclinations  and  con- 
victions, to  fall  in  line  behind  them.  Whatever 
might  be  the  business  the  Government  took  in  hand, 
whether  it  related  to  foreign  affairs  or  home  topics, 
the  Fourth  Party  settled  upon  it  with  mischievous 
intent.  Their  industry  was  inexhaustible,  their 
resources  boundless.  In  the  dullest  intervals  one  of 
the  three  was  certain  to  be  found  at  his  post,  ready,  if 
opportunity  chanced,  to  put  a  spoke  in  the  Govern- 
ment wheel.  On  field-nights  they  mustered  their  full 
number,  playing  into  each  other's  hands  with  a  skill 
and  audacity  that  charmed  an  assembly  always  ready 
to  be  amused. 

Not  the  least  attractive  feature  in  the  entertain- 
ment was  the  impartial  manner  with  which  the  Fourth 
Party,  having  belabored  Mr.  Gladstone,  turned  to 
browbeat  Sir  Stafford  Northcote.  The  worm  will 
turn  at  last,  and  one  night  the  House  was  delighted 
by  Sir  Stafford,  the  mildest-mannered  man  wlio 
ever  fought  in  the  political  arena,  turning  upon  his 
tormentors  below  the  gangway,  and  describing  Lord 
Randolph  Churchill  as  playing  the  part  of  "  bonnet " 
in  a  game  led  by  the  Government.  That  was  an  ex- 
ceptional remonstrance,  wrung  from  his  lips  under 
direct  provocation.  What  happened  as  a  rule  was, 
that  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  and  his  colleagues  on  the 
Front  Bench,  including  the  two  statesmen  scornfully 
described  by  Lord  Randolph  as  "  Marshall  and  Sncl- 
grove,"  after  betraying  a  disposition  to  tread  more 
beaten  tracks  of  Opposition,  were  hustled  into  follow- 


THE  FOURTH  PARTY.  113 

ing  the  Fourth  Party  in   their   scamper  across  the 
country. 

When  they  showed  signs  of  revolt,  Lord  Randolph 
cracked  the  whip  and  they  came  to  heel.  In  the 
Session  of  1883,  he  published  a  sort  of  manifesto,  in 
which  he  called  upon  Lord  Salisbury  to  save  the 
country  by  taking  on  himself  the  more  vigorous 
leadership  of  the  Conservative  party.  If  he  were 
indisposed  to  come  forward.  Lord  Randolph  more 
than  hinted  the  difficulty  might  be  met  from  other 
sources.  But  he  would  have  none  of  "  the  bourgeois 
placemen,  honorable  Tadpoles,  hungry  Tapers,  Irish 
lawyers  "  who  compose  "  the  body  of  third-rate 
statesmen  such  as  were  good  enough  to  fill  subordi- 
nate offices  while  Lord  Beaconsfield  was  alive."  The 
member  for  Woodstock,  then  verging  on  the  mature 
age  of  thirty-four,  was  dismayed  at  "  the  series  of 
neglected  opportunities,  pusillanimity,  combativeness 
at  wrong  moments,  vacillation,  dread  of  responsibil- 
ity, repression  and  discouragement  of  hardworking 
followers,  collusions  with  tlie  Government,  hankerings 
after  coalition,  jealousies,  commonplaces,  and  want  of 
perception  on  the  part  of  the  former  lieutenants  of 
Lord  Beaconsfield." 

Thus  did  the  Leader  of  the  Fourth  Party,  with 
impartial  hand,  check  the  jubilation  with  which  right 
honorable  gentlemen  in  the  Front  Opposition  Bench 
watched  his  lively  sallies  upon  the  Government  citadel. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Mr.  Gladstone  w^as  him- 
self largely  responsible  for  bringing  about  the  state 

8 


114  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

of  things  by  which  he  and  his  Government  were  the 
chief  sufferers.  He,  more  than  any  one  else,  assisted 
to  make  the  reputation  of  Lord  Randolph  Churchill. 
Had  Mr.  Disraeli  been  in  his  position,  he  would  have 
acted  as  he  did  in  the  not  dissimilar  circumstances  of 
the  day  when  Lord  Cranborne,  afterwards  Marquis 
of  Salisbury,  sat  below  the  gangway  and  warned  the 
House  of  Commons  that  "  if  they  borrowed  their 
political  ethics  from  the  ethics  of  a  political  adventurer 
they  might  depend  upon  it  the  whole  of  their  rep- 
resentative institutions  would  crumble  beneath  their 
feet."  Mr.  Disraeli  sat  with  folded  arms  and  far-away 
look  in  his  eyes,  as  if  he  were  the  last  person  in  the 
world  concerned  in  this  tirade.  That  is  not  an 
attitude  encouraging  to  persistent  attack,  and  so 
Lord  Cranborne  found  it.  It  was  one  impossible 
for  Mr.  Gladstone  to  assume.  When  Lord  Randolph 
Churchill  spoke  at  him  he  listened  with  almost  pained 
intentness,  frequently  interrupted  with  retort  or 
corrections.  Almost  inevitably,  when  the  brilliant 
and  audacious  free  lance  had  resumed  his  seat,  the 
Premier  rose  to  reply.  With  a  man  of  Lord  Ran- 
dolph's sterling  capacity  and  born  Parliamentary 
aptitude  this  is  all  that  was  needed  to  give  him  a 
position  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

The  Fourth  Party  were  ready  to  attack  the  Govern- 
ment on  all  points.  There  was  one  on  which  they 
were  specially  effective.  It  is  one  of  the  traditions 
of  English  political  life,  more  or  less  strictly  observed, 
that  Ministers  shall  not  be  hampered  by  party  spirit 


THE   FOURTH   PARTY.  115 

when  administering  their  Foreign  Policy.  At  certain 
stages  foreign  policy  may,  of  course,  be  made  the  sub- 
ject for  debate  and  even  of  censure.  But  the  field  is 
one  in  which  partisanship  must  yield  to  patriotism. 
Whilst  this  principle  was  applicable  to  ex-Ministers 
seated  on  the  Front  Opposition  Bench,  private  mem- 
bers below  the  gangway  were,  if  they  pleased,  free 
from  its  supervision.  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  and 
his  merry  men  might  nightly  harass  the  Government 
with  questions  upon  their  foreign  relations,  or  might 
from  time  to  time  move  resolutions  raising  inconven- 
ient debate.  That  was  no  affair  of  right  honorable 
gentlemen  on  the  Front  Opposition  Bench.  They 
were,  indeed,  hampered  by  the  fact  tliat  trouble  in 
Afghanistan  and  in  South  Africa,  which  early  beset  Mr. 
Gladstone,  arose  directly  out  of  acts  and  engagements 
performed  by  them  whilst  they  were  in  office.  Lord 
Randolph  Churchill,  Sir  Henry  Wolff,  and  Mr.  Gorst 
wore  no  such  shackles.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
opportunity  of  incidentally  emphasizing  in  course  of 
debate  the  errors  and  incompetencies  of  their  own 
esteemed  leaders  when  in  office  lent  fresh  zest  to  the 
pursuit  of  their  successors  struggling  in  the  meshes 
inherited. 

One  of  the  incidents  in  Lord  Beaconsfield's  hank- 
ering after  "a  scientific  frontier"  to  the  north  of  our 
Indian  Empire  was  the  Treaty  of  Gandamak,  signed 
on  the  5th  of  May,  1870,  with  the  Ameer  of  Afghan- 
istan. By  this  engagement  Great  Britain  undertook 
to  pay  the  Ameer  £60,000  a  year,   supporting  him 


116  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

against  any  foreign  enemy  with  money,  arms,  and 
men.  The  only  foreign  enemy  possible  was  Russia, 
who  was  by  this  Convention  fondly  supposed  to  have 
received  a  serious  check  at  the  hands  of  the  great 
British  statesman.  In  consideration  of  the  bribe, 
Yakoob  Khan,  Ameer  at  the  time,  consented  to 
receive  a  British  envoy  in  residence  at  Cabul,  and  to 
meet  Lord  Beaconsfield's  views  in  the  matter  of  the 
scientific  frontier. 

There  followed  in  rapid  succession  the  massacre 
at  Cabul  of  Louis  Cavagnari  and  his  helpless  staff; 
the  fresh  occupation  of  Cabul  by  British  troops ;  the 
deposition  of  Yakoob  Khan;  the  whole  of  Afghanis- 
tan up  in  arms,  at  least  three  chieftains  fighting  for 
the  crown.  Scarcely  had  the  Liberal  Government 
settled  down  to  work,  when  news  came  of  the  defeat 
of  British  forces  in  Afghanistan,  the  rout  at  Mai- 
wand,  and  the  flight  of  the  remnant  of  the  forces  to 
find  doubtful  refuge  in  Kandahar.  Next  it  was 
known  that  Ayoub  Khan,  following  up  his  triumph 
at  Maiwand,  was  beleaguering  Kandahar  with  forces 
that  hopelessly  overmastered  its  little  garrison. 

Obviously  this  was  a  state  of  things  for  which  Mr. 
Gladstone  and  his  Government  had  no  responsibil- 
ity. It  was,  in  fact,  the  legacy  of  a  policy  which, 
when  in  Opposition,  he  had  vigorously  fought. 
Speaking  at  Edinburgh  in  1884,  he  said:  "A  long 
series  of  illustrious  statesmen  in  the  ofiice  of  Gov- 
ernor-General, including  in  one  case  at  least  —  per- 
haps in  more  —  a  Tory  statesman,  the  excellent  Lord 


THE  FOURTH  PARTY.  117 

Mayo,  labored  with  an  unwearied  patience  to  efface 
the  memory  of  the  former  error  and  the  former 
crime,  and  to  build  up  relations  of  peace  and  amity 
with  the  brave  mountaineers  of  Afghanistan.  But 
under  the  policy  of  the  two  last  years  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  Government  this  was  all  reversed; 
and  by  an  undertaking  which,  I  think,  united  crimi- 
nality and  folly  in  a  higher  degree  than  any  under- 
taking in  my  recollection,  the  United  Kingdom  of 
Afghanistan  was  broken  to  pieces ;  its  valleys  were 
deluged  with  blood,  its  people  were  again  provoked 
into  hatred  of  England;  and  if  anything  could  by 
possibility  have  effectually  promoted  that  supposed 
ambition  of  Russia  —  if  anything  could  have  made 
the  ambition  of  Russia  really  formidable  —  it  was 
undoubtedly  the  chance  of  throwing  the  people  of 
Afghanistan  by  our  hostile  measures  into  the  arms 
of  the  Emperor." 

That  had  been  his  view  of  the  situation  set  forth 
whilst  the  seed  was  being  sown  which  blossomed  in 
the  battle  of  Maiwand.  But  the  British  public  do 
not  look  too  closely  into  cause  and  effect,  more  espe- 
cially when  the  matters  at  issue  relate  to  Foreign 
Policy.  Under  Mr.  Gladstone's  Premiership,  British 
arms  in  India  had  suffered  a  crushing  defeat,  and, 
in  some  measure  insensibly,  certainly  effectivel}', 
Mr.  Gladstone  and  his  Government  were  regarded  as 
responsible  for  the  reverse.  Nor  did  they  profit  by 
the  brilliant  success  of  Sir  Frederick  Roberts  in  his 
famous  march  on  Kandahar.     That  was  all  to  the 


118  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

credit  of  the  General  and  the  British  army,  who  had, 
not  for  the  first  time  in  history,  come  to  the  rescue 
of  a  belated,  incompetent  Ministry. 

Darker  and  more  permanent  in  its  effect  was  the 
cloud  rising  in  South  Africa  which  fell  over  the  still 
young  Government.  Majuba  Hill,  like  Maiwand, 
was  a  direct  result  of  the  policy  of  the  preceding 
Government,  against  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had  in 
vain  lifted  up  his  voice.  In  1877,  at  a  time  when 
the  Jingo  fever  was  at  its  height.  Sir  Theophilus 
Shepstone  was  sent  out  by  Lord  Carnarvon  to  inquire 
into  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Transvaal  Re- 
public. Sir  Theophilus,  not  unmindful  of  Lord 
Carnarvon's  cherished  dream  of  South  African  Con- 
federation under  the  British  Crown,  promptly  settled 
the  Boers'  business  by  hoisting  the  British  flag  in 
their  territory.  As  Mr.  Gladstone  described  it  at 
the  time,  "the  Government  annexed  the  Transvaal 
territory,  inhabited  by  a  free  European,  Christian, 
and  Republican  community,  which  they  thought 
proper  to  bring  within  the  limits  of  a  Monarchy, 
although  out  of  8,000  persons  in  that  Republic  quali- 
fied to  vote  upon  the  subject,  we  were  told  that  6,500 
protested  against  it." 

In  vain  deputations  from  the  Boers  came  over  to 
England  and  in  the  home  of  liberty  pleaded  for 
deliverance  from  this  act  of  high  tyranny.  They 
found  in  Mr.  Gladstone  an  eloquent,  but  at  the  time 
powerless,  advocate.  "Is  it  not  wonderful,"  he, 
speaking  in  the  Midlothian  Campaign  that  preceded 


THE   FOURTH  PARTY.  119 

the  general  election,  asked,  "to  those  who  are  free- 
men, and  whose  fathers  had  been  freemen,  and  who 
hope  that  their  children  will  be  freemen,  and  who 
consider  that  freedom  is  an  essential  condition  of 
civil  life,  and  that  without  it  you  can  have  nothing 
great  and  nothing  noble  in  political  society  —  that 
we  are  led  by  an  Administration,  and  led,  I  admit, 
by  Parliament,  to  find  ourselves  in  this  position, 
that  we  are  to  march  upon  another  body  of  freemen, 
and  against  their  will  to  subject  them  to  despotic 
Government  ?  " 

But  the  thing  was  done,  and  when  three  months 
later  Mr.  Gladstone  came  into  power  he  found  the 
Transvaal  seething  with  a  sense  of  the  wrong  done 
to  it.  Looked  back  upon  with  the  advantage  of  full 
knowledge  of  subsequent  events,  it  would  obviously 
have  been  better  for  all  parties  had  Mr.  Gladstone, 
on  coming  into  office,  carried  into  effect  the  opinions 
expressed  when  in  opposition.  There  would  have 
been  an  outburst  of  angry  Jingo  feeling  and  much 
talk  in  music  halls  and  cutlery-manufacturing  towns 
of  "trailing  the  British  flag  in  the  dust."  That  all 
came  in  due  time,  with  much  else  far  more  damag- 
ing. It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  it  is  an 
axiom  of  British  statesmanship  that  foreign  policy 
is  continuous.  Ministries  may  come  and  Ministries 
may  go,  but  the  attitude  of  Great  Britain  towards 
foreign  Powers  and  States  must  remain  bound  by 
whatever  treaties  or  engagements  have  been  entered 
upon. 


120  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

The  Gladstone  Government  continued  to  hold  the 
Transvaal  Republic  in  the  bonds  fastened  upon  it  by 
the  Beaconsfield  Administration.  Before  the  new 
Government  had  been  in  power  nine  months  the 
Transvaal  was  up  in  arms  and  declared  itself  once 
more  a  Republic.  Shots  were  fired  at  Potchefstrom. 
Colonel  Anstruther,  marching  on  Pretoria,  was  faced 
by  a  body  of  Boers  whose  deadly  rifles  in  ten  minutes 
emptied  the  saddles  of  forty  officers.  Ingogo  fol- 
lowed swiftly  on  Lang's  Nek.  Then  came  Majuba 
Hill,  and  the  spectacle  of  British  troops  fleeing 
before  the  advance  of  a  body  of  Boer  farmers.  This 
was  even  worse  than  Maiwand,  and,  following  close 
upon  that  disaster,  gave  a  final  check  to  the  wave  of 
popular  enthusiasm  that  a  few  months  earlier  had 
carried  Mr.  Gladstone  into  power.  He  and  his  col- 
leagues were  no  more  responsible  for  Majuba  Hill 
than  they  were  for  Maiwand.  As  has  been  shown, 
they  had,  on  the  contrary,  done  all  men  could  do  to 
defeat  the  policy  that  led  up  to  these  battlefields. 
They  were  at  worst  unlucky.  But  ill  luck  is  the 
unpardonable  sin  with  an  Administration. 

What  followed  on  Majuba  filled  the  cup  of  bitter- 
ness the  British  public  had  twice  had  presented  to  it 
through  the  as  yet  brief  term  of  the  new  Govern- 
ment's existence.  There  was  still  a  third  trial  in 
store.  Mr.  Gladstone  has,  in  a  few  sentences,  de- 
scribed the  situation  at  the  time  Sir  Evelyn  Wood 
found  himself  at  the  head  of  overwhelming  reinforce- 
ments, and  Cape  Town  was  juljilant  at  the  cxpccta- 


THE  FOURTH  PARTY.  121 

tion  of  seeing  the  Boers  brought  to  book.  "  When  in 
opposition  we  had,"  he  said,  "declared  that  in  our 
judgment  the  attempt  of  the  Administration  then  in 
power  to  put  down  the  people  of  the  Transvaal,  to 
extinguish  their  freedom,  and  to  annex  them  against 
their  will  to  England,  was  a  scandalous  and  disas- 
trous attempt.  When  we  got  into  office,  we  w^ere 
assured  by  all  the  local  agents  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment—  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  spoke  in  honor  and 
sincerity  —  that  the  people  of  the  Transvaal  had 
changed  their  minds,  and  were  perfectly  contented  to 
be  annexed  to  the  British  Empire.  That  made  it  our 
duty  to  pause  for  a  while,  and  for  a  short  while, 
accordingly,  we  did  pause.  However  much  we  had 
opposed  the  previous  Government,  it  was  our  duty 
not  to  make  changes  without  good  and  sufficient 
cause.  But  before  we  had  been  very  long  in  office, 
the  people  of  the  Transvaal  rose  in  arms,  and  showed 
us  pretty  well  what  their  feelings  and  intentions  were. 
They  obtained  several  successes  over  the  limited 
body  of  British  troops  then  in  South  Africa.  We  felt 
it  was  an  absolute  duty,  under  those  circumstances, 
to  reinforce  our  military  power  in  that  region; 
and  we  sent  a  force  to  South  Africa,  w^hich  would 
unquestionably  have  been  sufficient  to  defeat  any 
power  that  the  Dutch  Burghers  could  bring  into  the 
field  against  us.  But  the  Boers  asked  us  for  an 
accommodation.  What  is  called  the  Jingo  party 
was  horribly  scandalized  because  we  listened  to  that 
application.     We  had  got  our  forces  there  ready  to 


122  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

chastise  them.  We  might  have  shed  their  blood,  we 
might  have  laid  prostrate  on  the  field  hundreds,  pos- 
sibly thousands,  of  that  small  community,  and  then 
we  should  have  vindicated  the  reputation  of  this 
country,  according  to  that  creed  of  the  particular 
party.  Having  undoubted  power  in  our  hands,  we 
thought  that  the  time  to  be  merciful  is  when  you  are 
strong.  We  were  strong ;  we  could  afford  to  be  merci- 
ful. We  entered  into  arrangements  with  the  Trans- 
vaal, and  the  Transvaal  recovered  its  independence." 
When  the  terms  of  the  armistice  agreed  upon 
by  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  were  announced  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  the  Fourth  Party  were  frantic  with  in- 
dignation. Lord  Randolph  Churchill  could  scarcely 
find  parliamentary  phrases  in  which  to  denounce 
the  conduct  of  a  Minister  who  had  thus  dis- 
honored England,  and  betrayed  our  countrymen 
at  the  Cape.  Many  years  later  Lord  Randolph 
visited  South  Africa,  spent  some  time  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, and  made  himself  personally  acquainted  with 
the  existing  state  of  things.  He  had  the  courage 
and  the  generosity  publicly  to  admit  that  in  1881 
he  had  been  wrong,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  had  been 
right.  Looking  upon  the  whole  transaction  free  from 
prejudice  and  with  fuller  knowledge,  he  saw  in  the 
action  of  the  Gladstone  Government,  following  on 
Majul)a,  not  an  act  of  degradation,  but  an  outcome 
of  statesmanship  inspired  by  the  loftiest  motives, 
calculated  to  raise  England  still  higher  in  the  eyes 
of  the  civilized  world. 


THE   FOURTH  PARTY.  123 

That  was  very  good  and  very  true  for  the  year 
1892.  But  in  the  year  1881,  the  Fourth  Party,  in 
the  House  of  Commons  and  out  of  it,  taunted  Mr. 
Ghidstone  with  having  betrayed  and  dishonored  the 
country,  sedulously  fanning  the  breeze  of  unpopular- 
ity already  chilling  enthusiasm  on  the  Treasury 
Bench. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

EGYPT. 

Perhaps  the  most  notable  thing  in  Mi'.  Gladstone's 
second  Administration  is  that  he,  a  man  of  peace, 
his  foreign  policy  broadly  based  on  the  principle  of 
non-intervention,  should  have  suffered  continuously 
from  foreign  complications.  Hardly  had  the  mur- 
murs round  the  Transvaal  capitulation  begun  to  die 
away  than  there  arose  trouble  in  a  fresh  quarter  — 
trouble  that  lasted  to  the  end,  and  faced  Mr.  Glad- 
stone once  more  when,  in  1892,  he  again  assumed 
the  Leadership  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

As  in  Afghanistan  and  South  Africa,  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  Gladstone  Government  in  Egypt  were  a 
legacy  from  their  predecessors.  It  was  Lord  Bea- 
consfield  who  had  intervened  in  Egypt,  joining  in  a 
copartnership  with  France  which  proved  unwork- 
able, engendering  irritation  that  more  than  once 
threatened  open  rupture.  As  early  as  1875  Mr. 
Disraeli  made  the  first  dazzling  stroke  in  the  Anglo- 
Egyptian  policy  by  the  purchase  of  the  Khedive's 
shares  in  the  Suez  Canal.  Close  upon  this  followed 
the  despatch  of  ^Ir.  Stephen  Cave  on  a  mission  of 
inquiry  into  the  state  of  Egyptian  finance.  Ismail 
Pacha,  with  an  eye  to  a  fresh  loan,  had  invited  the 
British  Government  to  send  out  a  capable  authority. 


EGYPT.  125 

It  was  no  particular  business  of  Great  Britain  or 
of  the  Government  which  administered  its  affairs. 
But  the  proposal  was  very  popular  in  the  City,  and 
the  Government  selected  for  the  post  one  of  their 
own  colleagues.  It  is  true  that  on  undertaking  the 
special  mission  Mr.  Cave  resigned  the  office  of  Judge 
Advocate-General.  That,  indeed,  was  inevitable. 
He  was  nevertheless  a  confidential  emissary  of  the 
British  Government,  carrying  with  him  the  authority 
of  an  ex-Minister. 

The  rest  followed  with  regular  steps.  Mr.  Cave 
having  returned  and  reported,  Mr.  Rivers  Wilson, 
Controller  of  the  National  Debt  Office,  was  sent  out 
to  advise  the  Khedive.  A  joint  mission,  arranged 
by  French  and  English  bondholders,  repaired  to 
Cairo.  In  1876,  Ismail,  growing  suspicious  of  the 
toils  closing  round  him,  asserted  his  independence, 
brought  back  Nubar  Pacha  from  exile,  and  shortly 
after  dismissed  him,  packing  off  with  him  Mr. 
Rivers  Wilson  and  M.  Blignieres,  the  English  and 
French  Ministers  imposed  upon  him.  This  was  too 
much  for  the  allied  Powers.  They  drove  Ismail  from 
his  throne  and  his  palaces,  placed  his  son  Tewfik 
on  the  throne,  reinstated  their  joint  Ministers,  and 
proposed  to  govern  Egypt  for  the  Egyptians. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  when  the  Gladstone 
Ministry  came  into  power  at  the  end  of  April,  1880. 
"We  found  the  Khedive  upon  the  throne,"  says  Mr. 
Gladstone.  "  We  found  a  solemn  engagement  from 
the    British    Government   to   maintain   him  on   the 


126  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

throne."  The  value  of  this  pledge  was  soon  tested. 
Early  in  January,  1883,  an  identical  Note  was 
addressed  to  the  Khedive  by  the  British  and  French 
Governments,  avowing  their  determination  to  ward 
off  by  united  effort  all  causes  of  external  or  internal 
complication  which  might  menace  the  regime  estab- 
lished in  Egypt.  Since  Tewfik  was  placed  on  the 
throne,  there  had  grown  up  a  national  party  in  Egypt 
which  fretted  under  what  was  known  as  the  Dual 
Control.  In  June,  riot  broke  out  in  the  streets  of 
Alexandria.  There  was  a  brisk  flight  of  Europeans 
out  of  Egypt.  The  Khedive  was  removed  to  Alex- 
andria and  there  set  up  his  trembling  Court.  Gam- 
betta,  one  of  the  sponsors  of  the  Dual  Control,  was 
out  of  office.  His  successor,  M.  de  Freycinet,  was 
opposed  to  active  interference  in  the  internal  affairs 
of  Egypt.  The  national  party  in  Egypt  had  found 
their  leader  in  Arabi  Pacha,  who,  having  been  forced 
upon  the  Khedive  in  the  position  of  War  Minister, 
began  to  place  Alexandria  in  a  position  to  resist  the 
encroachments  of  foreign  Powers.  On  the  10th  of 
July,  Sir  Beauchamp  Seymour,  in  command  of  the 
British  fleet,  handed  in  an  ultimatum  announcing 
that  unless  the  forts  at  Alexandria  were  surrendered 
the  fleet  would  oj)en  fire  upon  them.  The  notice 
expired  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July 
11th,  and  punctually  on  the  stroke  of  the  hour  the 
war-ships  thundered.  The  French  fleet,  which  in 
outward  and  visible  sii2:n  of  the  Dual  Control  had 
been  sharing  sentinel  duty  witli  the   I>ritisli  ships, 


EGYPT.  127 

steamed  away  out  of  sight,  in  ostentations  notifi- 
cation that  it  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
business. 

The  Egyptian  guns,  though  of  fine  calibre,  well 
mounted  and  well  served,  could  not  long  w^ithstand 
the  fire  of  the  eight  ironclads  and  five  gunboats 
which  formed  the  British  fleet.  The  fortifications 
were  abandoned.  Arabi  withdrew  with  his  forces 
inland,  and  for  two  days  Alexandria  was  given  up  to 
rapine,  finally  stamped  out  by  a  force  of  British 
blue-jackets  and  marines.  Arabi  entrenched  himself 
near  Tel-el-Kebir,  whither  he  was  followed  by  Sir 
Garnet  Wolseley.  At  dawn  on  the  morning  of  Sep- 
tember 13th  the  little  British  army  stole  upon  the 
Egyptian  camp,  carrying  their  first  line  of  defence  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet.  In  half  an  hour  it  was  all 
over.  Arabi 's  chance  was  gone,  and  he  a  prisoner. 
Cairo,  which  had  been  held  for  Arabi,  was  taken 
without  a  struggle.  Tewfik  was  escorted  back  to  his 
palace,  and  the  occupation  of  Egypt  by  the  British 
actually  commenced. 

Whilst  British  troops  were  barracked  at  Cairo  and 
Alexandria,  and  a  British  fleet  guarded  the  water- 
ways of  Egypt,  a  pretty  fiction  was  maintained  at 
the  Foreign  Office,  that  England  had  really  nothing 
to  do  with  Egyptian  affairs  save  to  perform  the 
policeman's  part  and  keep  order  in  the  streets  of 
Cairo.  The  Soudan,  long  in  revolt  against  Egyp- 
tian rule,  was  in  1882  in  full  rebellion  under  the 
influence  of  the  Mahdi.     The  Egyptian  Government 


128  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

placed  Hicks  Pacha,  an  English  officer,  in  command 
of  a  motley  army,  and  sent  him  to  meet  the  Mahdi. 
He  got  no  further  than  Kashgeil,  where  he  fell  fight- 
ing, his  army  annihilated.  The  news  ran  through 
the  Soudan  with  that  miraculous  celerity  peculiar 
to  Eastern  communities.  The  whole  country  was 
aflame.  Khartoum,  Sinkat,  and  Tokar,  towns  gar- 
risoned by  Egyptian  troops,  were  beleaguered  by  the 
Mahdi 's  forces.  Berber,  Dongola,  and  Kassala  were 
threatened.  Appeals  were  made  to  Lord  Granville 
for  advice  and  assistance.  But  the  Home  Govern- 
ment were  in  almost  as  difficult  a  place  as  the  garri- 
son at  Khartoum.  France  watched  every  movement 
in  Egypt  with  angry  suspicion.  Worse  still,  there 
was  a  strong  body  of  the  Ministerial  party  in  the 
House  of  Commons  who  resented  the  continued  occu- 
pation of  Egypt,  and  would  have  gone  into  open 
revolt  had  active  operations  at  this  time  been 
extended  to  the  Soudan. 

Advice  Lord  Granville  gave,  recommending  the 
Egyptian  Government  to  abandon  all  territory  south 
of  Wady  Haifa.  But  as  for  money  and  troops  —  God 
bless  you!  —  he  had  none  to  give.  "Her  Majesty's 
Government,"  the  Foreign  Secretary  wrote  in  a 
despatch  dated  30th  December,  "has  no  intention  of 
employing  British  or  Lidian  troops  in  the  Soudan." 
The  Egyptian  Government,  thus  left  to  themselves, 
did  nothing.  The  Mahdi  did  much,  his  power  in- 
creasing every  day,  the  position  of  the  beleaguered 
gari'isons  growing  more  critical. 


EGYPT.  129 

At  length  Lord  Granville,  insisting  that  the  Sou- 
dan should  be  abandoned,  proposed  to  send  a  British 
officer  to  Khartoum  to  make  arrangements  for  the 
future  Government  of  the  country  and  the  with- 
drawal of  the  garrisons.  The  post  being  offered  to 
General  Gordon,  he  promptly  accepted  it,  and,  as 
swiftly  as  a  dromedary  could  carry  him,  made  his 
way  to  Khartoum,  where  he  was  known  of  old,  hav- 
ing worked  in  the  Soudan  for  three  years,  engaged 
in  battling  with  the  slave  trade.  The  population  of 
Khartoum  received  him  with  wild  enthusiasm.  For 
a  while  it  seemed  that  confidence  in  his  hold  over 
the  Soudanese  would  be  justified,  and  that  his  work 
would  be  accomplished  without  bloodshed.  Mean- 
while, Baker  Pacha,  who  had  set  out  to  fight  the 
Mahdi's  lieutenant,  Osman  Digna,  and  relieve  the 
garrison  at  Suakim,  was  routed  at  Teb.  Later  came 
news  that  Tewfik  Pacha,  making  a  sortie  from  Sin- 
kat,  had  been  cut  to  pieces,  scarcely  a  man  of  his 
famished  garrison  left  to  tell  the  tale. 

These  events  forced  the  hand  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, pricking  the  bladder  in  which  rattled  their 
protest  that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Soudan. 
Admiral  Hewitt  assumed  supreme  command  in  the 
Soudan,  and  General  Graham  marched  on  Trinkitat 
with  a  British  force  four  thousand  strono;.  Everv 
inch  of  the  ground  was  disputed  by  the  Arabs  under 
Osman  Digna.  At  one  time  it  seemed  that  Graham 
and  his  gallant  army  would  be  treated  even  as  Ilicks 
Pacha  and  his  Egyptians  had  been.     Advancing  on 

9 


130  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

Osman  Digna  encamped  at  Tamanieb,  the  British 
fell  into  an  ambuscade.  The  Arabs  dashed  over 
their  square  like  the  Atlantic  in  a  storm  sweeps  a 
ship's  deck.  For  a  while  it  seemed  that  all  was  lost. 
But  the  temporarily  swamped  square  reformed.  The 
second  square  came  to  its  assistance.  The  Arabs 
were  beaten  off  and  Osman  Digna  was  driven  further 
into  the  desert. 

Meanwhile  the  Government  at  home  were  attacked 
with  no  less  bitterness  than  were  the  squares  of 
British  soldiers,  specks  in  the  desert  of  the  Soudan. 
Immediately  on  news  of  the  fall  of  Sinkat  reaching 
London,  votes  of  censure  were  moved  in  the  Lords 
by  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  and  in  the  Commons 
by  Sir  Stafford  Northcote.  For  a  whole  week  the 
battle  raged  in  the  Commons,  and  when  a  division 
was  taken  only  311  mustered  for  the  defence  of  the 
Government  against  292  voting  with  the  Opposition. 
Thus  was  the  Ministerial  majority  reduced  to  19. 
A  month  later  there  was  another  vote  of  censure, 
Mr.  Labouchere  joining  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  in 
attacking  the  Ministerial  policy  in  Egypt.  There 
had  been  a  Saturday  sitting  in  order  to  make  some 
progress  with  sadly  delayed  supply.  The  battle 
raged  till  six  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  when  the 
majority  for  the  Ministry  was  further  reduced  to  17. 

Anxiety  about  the  position  of  General  Gordon  at 
Khartoum  grew.  He  had  evidently  caught  a  Tartar. 
Going  out  to  Khartoum  to  administer  affairs  in  the 
Soudan,  he  was  shut  up  within  the  town,  the  Mahdi's 


EGYPT.  131 

men  massed  in  invulnerable  belt  around  him.  On 
the  17th  of  May  Lord  Granville  directed  the  Charg^ 
d'Affaires  at  Cairo  to  inform  Gordon  that  as  the  plan 
for  the  evacuation  of  Khartoum  had  been  abandoned 
and  as  no  aggressive  operations  against  the  Mahdi 
were  contemplated,  he  shonld  consider  how  best  to 
remove  himself  and  his  garrison  from  Khartoum. 
At  this  time,  as  Mr.  Gladstone  has  testified,  there 
was  no  evidence  available  by  the  Government  that 
Gordon  was  in  danger  within  the  walls  of  Khartoum. 
"We  believed,"  Mr.  Gladstone  said,  "and  I  think 
we  had  reason  to  believe  from  his  own  expressions, 
that  it  was  in  the  power  of  General  Gordon  to  remove 
himself  and  those  immediately  associated  with  him 
from  Khartoum  by  going  to  the  south.  General 
Gordon  said  himself,  speaking  of  it  as  a  thing  dis- 
tinctly within  his  own  power,  that  he  would  in  cer- 
tain contingencies  withdraw  to  the  Equator.  From 
the  unhappy  interruption  of  the  telegraph  we  did  not 
know,  and  could  not  estimate,  the  relations  which 
General  Gordon  may  have  formed  with  others  than 
those  who  were  immediately  associated  with  his  own 
party. " 

As  the  days  passed  and  resembled  each  other  inas- 
much as  they  brought  no  news  from  Gordon,  public 
anxiety  deepened.  On  the  eve  of  the  Prorogation  in 
August,  1884,  though  the  Government  still  clung  to 
the  expression  of  belief  that  there  was  no  necessity 
for  an  expedition  to  relieve  Gordon,  they  were  care- 
ful to  obtain  a  vote  to  cover  the  expenditure  should 


132  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

it  appear  necessary.  Conviction  of  the  urgency  of 
the  case  seems  to  have  grown  apace.  On  the  5th  of 
August  a  vote  had  been  asked  for  explicitly  as  a 
matter  of  precaution.  Two  days  later,  as  Mr.  Glad- 
stone has  testified  —  on  the  7th  of  August  by  tele- 
gram and  on  the  8th  of  August  in  a  full  and  detailed 
paper  —  instructions  sent  by  the  Secretary  for  War 
on  the  part  of  the  Government,  were  despatched  to. 
Egypt.  "From  that  moment,"  Mr.  Gladstone  says, 
"military  preparations  were  never  relaxed.  The 
operations  were  continuous.  I  believe  it  would  not 
be  found  possible  to  say  that  from  that  date  forward 
any  delay  that  could  be  avoided  occurred.  While 
our  preparations  were  being  made  we  did  think  the 
evidence  reached  a  point  which  showed  that  a  move- 
ment forward  was  necessary.  That  movement  for- 
ward was  directed,  I  think,  about  the  23rd  of  August, 
and  either  on  that  date  or  immediately  after,  Gen- 
eral Lord  Wolseley  undertook  the  command  of  the 
expedition  to  Egypt." 

On  the  28th  of  January,  1885,  Sir  Charles  Wilson 
arrived  at  Khartoum  with  a  rescue  party  to  find 
themselves  too  late.  Two  days  earlier  the  citadel 
had  fallen,  and  amongst  the  slain  was  the  gallant 
Gordon. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  PENJDEH   INCIDENT. 

As  if  Egypt  were  not  burden  enough  for  a  Govern- 
ment to  carry,  trouble  threatened  on  the  Afghan 
frontier.  As  the  result  of  patient  negotiation,  a 
Commission  had  been  appointed  for  the  delimitation 
of  the  Afghan  frontier.  Whilst  the  work  of  the 
Commission  was  quietly  going  forward,  news  came 
of  an  event  delicately  referred  to  in  Parliamentary 
debate  as  the  Penjdeh  incident.  On  the  16th  of 
March,  1884,  an  agreement  had  been  entered  into 
between  British  and  Russian  Commissioners  cove- 
nanting that  providing  the  Afghans  did  not  advance 
or  attack,  the  Russian  troops  would  remain  quies- 
cent. On  the  30th  of  March  the  Russians  advanced 
on  Penjdeh,  and  after  a  bloody  battle  drove  out  the 
Afghans. 

This  news  reached  London  on  the  9th  of  April,  and 
created  something  like  a  panic.  In  view  of  British 
engagements  to  the  Ameer,  entered  into  by  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  Government,  this  assault  was  equiva- 
lent to  an  act  of  war.  England,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  pledged  herself  to  support  the  Ameer  against 
any  foreign  enemy  with  money,  arms,  and  men. 
Here  was  the  foreign  enemy  in  active  work,  and  the 
Ameer  would  look  to  England  for  fulfilment  of  its 


134  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

solemn  engagement.  There  was  panic  on  the  Stock 
Exchange,  consternation  at  Westminster.  A  Cabi- 
net Council  was  hastily  summoned  and  sat  up  to  the 
moment  at  which  public  business  commenced  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  Members  assembled  found  the 
Treasury  Bench  tenantless  as  far  as  its  chiefs  were 
concerned.  Sir  William  Harcourt  entered  shortly 
after  half-past  four,  but  Mr.  Gladstone  still  tarried. 
Sir  Stafford  Northcote  sat  in  his  place  on  the  other 
side  of  the  table,  obviously  primed  with  momentous 
questions  as  to  the  truth  of  the  rumors  that  dark- 
ened the  air.  Sir  William  Harcourt  was  on  his  feet, 
makino;  some  observations  with  obvious  intent  to 
keep  the  field  open  till  the  Premier  should  arrive, 
when  Mr.  Gladstone  hurriedly  entered.  Amid 
breathless  silence  he  stated  the  facts  as  far  as  they 
had  reached  the  Government.  He  was  evidently 
oppressed  with  the  imminence  of  crisis.  A  heated 
word  might  serve  as  the  match  to  the  powder-barrel. 
He  contented  himself  with  reading,  in  a  studiously 
matter-of-fact  manner,  the  despatches  that  had  come 
from  far-off  Afghanistan  —  those  addressed  to  the 
Government  by  Sir  Peter  Lumsden,  those  communi- 
cated to  Lord  Granville  by  the  Russian  Minister. 

The  self-command  displayed  by  the  Prime  Minister 
gave  tone  to  feeling  in  the  House.  The  occasion  was 
too  solemn,  the  issue  too  grave  for  noisy  demonstration. 
Mr.  Gladstone  having  made  his  statement  in  studiously 
unadorned  plirasc,  the  House  almost  gratefully  went 
into  Committee  of  Supply,  discussing  proposals  for  new 


THE  PENJDEH  INCIDENT.  135 

ofTiccs  for  the  departments  of  the  Army  and  the  Navy, 
with  as  little  show  of  emotion  as  if  they  had  not  a  few 
minutes  earlier  almost  heard  the  roll  of  the  drum  and 
the  blare  of  the  trumpet  calling  to  battle. 

Twelve  days  later  the  House  was  again  crowded  and 
excited.  The  Easter  Recess  was  at  hand,  Parliament 
would  be  separated  for  ten  days.  No  one  could  say 
what  would  happen  in  the  interval.  The  Government, 
resolved  to  be  prepared  for  the  worst,  asked  for  a 
vote  of  credit  for  not  less  than  eleven  and  a  half 
millions  sterling. 

"  We  have  labored,"  said  Mr.  Gladstone  in  solemn 
voice,  "  and  we  will  continue  to  labor  for  an  honor- 
able settlement  by  pacific  means.  But  one  thing 
I  may  venture  to  say  with  regard  to  the  sad 
contingency  of  an  outbreak  of  war,  or  a  rupture 
of  relations  between  two  great  Powers  such  as  Russia 
and  England —  one  thing  I  will  say  with  great  strength 
of  conviction  and  great  earnestness  in  my  endeavor 
to  impress  it  upon  the  Committee,  that  we  will  strive 
to  conduct  ourselves  to  the  end  of  this  diplomatic 
controversy  in  such  a  way  as  that,  if  unhappily  it  is 
to  end  in  violence  or  rupture,  we  may  at  least  be  able 
to  challenge  the  verdict  of  civilized  mankind,  upon  a 
review  of  the  demands  and  refusals,  to  say  whether  we 
have  or  whether  we  have  not  done  all  that  men  could 
do,  by  every  just  and  honorable  effort,  to  prevent 
the  plunging  of  two  such  countries,  with  all  tlie 
millions  that  own  their  swav,  into  bloodshed  and 
strife." 


136  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

On  the  27tli  of  April  the  Committee  met  to  deal 
with  the  final  stage  of  the  vote  of  credit.  The  Pre- 
mier was  at  this  time  suffering  from  an  affection  of  the 
voice,  which  seemed  to  threaten  imposition  of  silence. 
He  spoke  with  difficulty,  and  with  painful  hoarseness. 
But  as  he  proceeded  to  explain  the  necessit}^  for  this 
colossal  vote  he  mastered  his  infirmitv.  "  What  has 
happened  ?"  he  asked,  looking  round  at  the  faces  set  in 
serried  ranks  intently  watching.  "  A  bloody  engage- 
ment on  the  30th  of  March  followed  the  covenant 
of  the  16th.  I  shall  overstate  nothing.  At  least  I 
shall  not  purposely  overstate  anything.  I  hope  I  shall 
not  inadvertently  overstate  anything.  All  I  shall 
say  is  this  —  that  the  woeful  engagement  on  the 
30th  of  March  distinctly  showed  that  one  party  or 
both  had,  either  through  ill-will  or  unfortunate  mis- 
hap, failed  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the  engagement. 
We  considered  it  to  be,  and  we  still  consider  it  to  be, 
the  duty  of  both  countries,  and,  above  all  I  will  say, 
for  the  honor  of  both  countries,  to  examine  how  and 
by  whose  fault  this  calamity  came  about.  I  will  have 
no  foregone  conclusion,  I  will  not  anticipate  that  we 
are  in  the  right.  Altliough  I  feel  perfect  confidence 
in  the  honor  and  intelligence  of  our  officers,  I  will 
not  now  assume  that  they  may  not  liave  been  misled. 
I  will  prepare  myself  for  the  issue ;  and  I  will  abide 
by  it  as  far  as  I  can  in  a  spii'it  of  impartiality.  But 
what  I  say  is  this  —  that  those  who  have  caused  such 
an  engagement  to  fail,  ought  to  become  known  to 
their  own  Government,  and  to  the  other  contracting 


THE  PENJDEH  INCIDENT.  137 

Government.  I  will  not  say  that  we  are  even  now 
in  possession  of  all  the  facts  of  the  case.  But  we  are 
in  possession  of  many  ;  and  we  are  in  possession  of 
facts  which  create  in  our  minds  impressions  un- 
favorable to  the  conduct  of  some  of  those  who  form 
the  other  party  in  these  negotiations.  However,  I 
will  not  wilfully  deviate  from  the  strictest  principles 
of  justice  in  anticipating  anything  as  to  the  ultimate 
issue  of  that  fair  inquiry  which  we  are  desirous  of 
prosecuting,  and  endeavoring  to  prosecute.  The 
cause  of  that  deplorable  collision  may  be  uncertain. 
What  is  certain  is  that  the  attack  was  a  Russian  attack. 
Whose  was  the  provocation  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost 
consequence.  We  only  know  that  the  attack  was  a 
Russian  attack.  We  know  that  the  Afghans  suffered  in 
life,  in  spirit,  and  in  repute.  We  know  that  a  blow  was 
struck  at  the  credit  and  the  authority  of  a  Sovereign  — 
our  ally  —  our  protected  ally  —  who  had  committed  no 
offence.  All  I  say  is  we  cannot  in  that  state  of  things 
close  this  book  and  say  :  '  We  will  look  into  it  no 
more.'  " 

As  he  spoke  the  Premier  had  a  blue-book  before 
him  from  which  he  had  been  quoting.  Suiting  the 
action  to  the  word  he  closed  the  book  and  heavily 
smote  the  cover  as  he  exclaimed,  "  We  will  look  into 
it  no  more."  Slowly  re-opening  it  he  added  in  low, 
deliberate  voice,  "We  must  do  our  best  to  have  right 
done  in  the  matter." 

A  ringing  cheer  approved  this  determination.  For 
awhile  there  were  neither  Liberals  nor  Conservatives 


138  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

among  the  Commons.  They  were  all  one  in  patriotic 
feeling,  the  heat  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  noble  eloquence 
having  welded  them  into  a  mass  of  Englishmen.  The 
vote  was  agreed  to  without  comment  other  than  was 
expressed  by  a  fresh  outburst  of  cheering  that  had  for 
undertone  an  unusual  note  of  sternness.  There  was 
no  mistaking  the  attitude  of  the  Government,  thus 
backed  up  by  a  unanimous  Parliament.  Business  was 
clearly  meant.  Russia,  observing  this,  climbed  down, 
and  on  the  4th  of  May  Mr.  Gladstone  was  able  to 
announce  that  impediments  to  friendly  correspondence 
with  Russia  had  been  removed,  and  the  two  Govern- 
ments had  agreed  to  refer  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Sovereign  of  a  friendly  State  any  difference  that  might 
be  found  to  exist. 

This  was  tragedy.  It  was  lightened  by  a  touch  of 
comedy  applied  between  the  two  sittings  of  the 
Committee  on  the  vote  of  credit.  On  the  24th  of 
April  the  public,  living  in  a  highly  strained  condition, 
were  freshly  alarmed  by  report  that  the  French 
Government,  as  a  preliminary  to  active  hostilities 
with  this  country,  had  withdrawn  their  consul  from 
Cairo.  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  incpiired  whether  the 
Government  were  able  to  confirm  this  rumor.  "  No," 
said  Mr.  Gladstone,  with  a  look  of  genuine  surprise. 
"  We  have  no  information  to  that  effect." 

The  House  was  undisguiscdly  glad  to  hear  this. 
War  with  Russia  apparently  imminent,  the  prospect 
of  France  taking  up  arms  was  grave  indeed.  Ques- 
tions had    proceeded   through  their  ordinary  course, 


THE  PENJDEH  INCIDENT.  139 

when  the  crowded  House  observed  Mr.  Gladstone  in- 
tently reading  a  note  passed  along  the  Treasury  Bench 
to  his  hand.  He  was  evidently  perturbed,  and  after 
a  moment's  hesitation  rose.  Since  he  had  replied 
to  Sir  Stafford  Northcote's  question,  he  had,  he  said, 
received  information  that  a  telegram  had  reached 
London  announcing  that  "  the  French  Charge 
d' Affaires  left  Cairo  this  morning."  The  House  was 
profoundly  moved.  A  buzz  of  excited  conversation 
filled  the  Chamber. 

Half  an  hour  later  came  explanation  of  the  porten- 
tous news.  Peremptory  instructions  had  been  left 
at  the  Foreign  Office  that  any  telegrams  received  from 
Cairo  should  be  despatched  to  the  Premier  in  the 
House  of  Commons  without  a  moment's  delay.  One 
coming  from  Sir  Evelyn  Baring  was,  to  save  time,  sent 
off  in  batches  as  it  arrived.  The  first  message  Mr. 
Gladstone  received  from  Cairo  ran  thus  :  "  This  morn- 
ing the  French  Charg^  d' Affaires  left."  This  was  the 
news  that  had  clouded  his  brow  and  which  he  had 
made  haste  to  communicate  to  the  House.  Ten 
minutes  later  there  was  handed  to  the  astonished 
Premier  the  conclusion  of  the  message  — "  some 
papers  for  my  consideration." 

This  was  a  happy  conclusion  of  a  matter  trivial  in 
itself,  but  indicative  of  the  high  pressure  at  which 
Ministers  worked  at  this  epoch. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   IRISH    PARTY. 

When  the  Parliament  elected  in  1874  met,  Mr.  Butt, 
chieftain  of  the  then  newly  designated  Home  Rule 
party,  found  himself  leader  of  fifty -nine  members. 
The  general  election  of  1880  placed  Mr.  Parnell  in 
the  position  of  Captain  of  the  Home  Rule  party,  now 
mustering  sixty-two  on  a  division.  The  whole  condi- 
tion of  affairs,  as  far  as  the  Irish  members  were  con- 
cerned, was  altered  as  compared  with  the  not  far 
distant  days  of  Mr.  Butt.  Mr.  Parnell  was  a  general 
of  different  calibre  from  the  genial,  eloquent  Q.C.  of 
the  early  days  of  the  Parliament  of  1874.  Under 
Mr.  Parnell's  direction  organization  was  complete  and 
authority  absolute.  The  Ministerial  majority,  as  has 
been  shown,  was  so  overwhelming  that  even  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Conservative  Opposition  Mr.  Parnell 
could  not  make  them  kick  the  beam.  That  was  a 
power  he  was  to  hold  later. 

At  the  outset  Mr.  Gladstone  had  a  majority  of  56 
over  any  possible  combination  between  Home  Rulers 
and  Conservatives.  Fresh  from  their  constituencies, 
the  Irish  members  brought  pitiful  stories  of  the  state 
of  things  in  Ireland.  The  Land  Act  of  1870  had 
failed  to  bring  about  that  era  of  peace  and  prosperity 
sanguinely  lioped  from  it.     Evictions  were  of  common 


THE  IRISH   PARTY.  141 

occurrence  and  were  increasing.  The  year  preceding 
the  Dissohition  they,  for  the  first  time  in  history, 
over-leaped  the  boundary  of  a  thousand.  In  1880 
they  exceeded  two  thousand,  and  as  the  life  of  the 
Parliament  extended  the  number  increased. 

In  the  autumn  of  1879  the  Irish  National  Land 
League,  a  potent  factor  in  subsequent  history  of  the 
Agrarian  Question  in  Ireland,  was  formed  under  the 
auspices  of  Mr.  Davitt.  In  English  constituencies 
the  Irish  vote  had  at  the  general  election  been  given 
to  Liberal  members,  and  had  in  some  cases  undoubt- 
edly swelled  the  Ministerial  ranks.  This  action  was 
taken  under  Mr.  Parnell's  direction,  not  because  he 
mistrusted  Mr.  Gladstone  less,  but  because  he  hated 
Lord  Beaconsfield  more.  The  latter  had  heralded  the 
general  election  by  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough,  in  which  he  described  the  Home  Rule 
movement  as  "  scarcely  less  disastrous  than  pestilence 
and  famine,"  and  had  called  upon  "  all  men  of  light 
and  leading,"  to  assist  him  in  "  resisting  the  policy  of 
decomposition  supported  by  the  Liberal  party,  and 
maintain  the  imperial  character  of  Great  Britain." 
The  coat  being  thus  ostentatiously  trailed,  the  Irish 
members  made  haste  to  jump  on  it.  Lord  Beacons- 
field  routed,  they  urged  that  the  undoubted  assistance 
they  had  rendered  Mr.  Gladstone  in  pulverizing  the 
Conservative  majority  established  a  claim  for  special 
consideration  in  the  programme  of  the  Session. 

The  Government  made  some  response  by  announc- 
ing in  the  Queen's  Speech  that  the  Peace  Preserva- 


142  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

tion  Act  would  not  be  renewed.  They  also  promised 
a  measure  extending  the  Irish  Borough  Franchise. 
This  was  well  as  far  as  it  went.  But  it  did  not  go 
far  enough  for  the  Irish  members,  and  not  at  all  in 
the  particular  direction  they  desired.  They  wanted 
a  new  Land  Bill,  or,  failing  that,  prompt  action  taken 
to  stay  the  plague  of  eviction.  It  was  grimly  indica- 
tive of  the  new  spirit  animating  them  under  Mr.  Par- 
nell's  leadership  that,  instead  of  following  immemorial 
usage  and  crossing  the  floor  of  the  House  when  the 
Liberal  party,  with  whom  they  ostensibly  worked  on 
lines  of  general  policy,  came  into  office,  they  remained 
in  the  seats  below  the  gangway  occupied  by  them 
during  the  former  Parliament.  Some  of  the  more 
moderate  men,  like  Mr.  Shaw,  ad  interim  Leader 
between  Mr.  Butt  and  Mr.  Parnell,  Mr.  Mitchell 
Henry,  and  Sir  Patrick  O'Brien,  crossed  over  and  sat 
with  the  Liberals. 

On  the  Address  Mr.  O'Connor  Power  moved  an 
amendment  demanding  that  the  Irish  Land  Question 
should  forthwith  be  dealt  with.  This  did  not  prove 
a  very  serious  movement,  as  appears  from  the  fact 
that  the  debate  collapsed  at  eleven  o'clock  on  this  its 
first  night,  only  forty-seven  members  going  into  the 
division  lobby  in  support  of  the  amendment. 

Things  growing  worse  and  worse  in  Ireland,  Mr. 
Forster  brought  in  a  Bill  authorizing  County  Court 
Judges,  for  a  limited  period,  to  award  compensation 
to  tenants  evicted  for  non-payment  of  rent  in  cases 
where  failure  of  crops  had  caused  insolvency.     Tlie 


THE   IRISH  PARTY.  148 

Chief  Secretary  did  not  acquit  himself  very  well  in 
what  was  undeniably  a  difficult  position.  There  was 
much  wobbling  in  Committee,  Mr.  Forster  being  on 
one  side  squeezed  by  the  Irish  members  wanting 
more,  and  on  the  other  threatened  by  the  Conserva- 
tives with  dire  consequences  if  he  did  not  accept 
amendments  designed  to  make  the  measure  inopera- 
tive. Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  much  to  the  fore 
just  then,  described  the  measure  as  having  been 
"brought  in  in  a  panic  for  the  futile  purpose  of  expe- 
diting Government  business  by  pacifying  the  Irish 
members."  After  much  trouble  and  the  occupation 
of  a  measure  of  time  that  upset  the  programme  of 
the  Session,  the  Compensation  for  Disturbance  Bill 
was  read  a  third  time,  and  sent  up  to  the  House  of 
Lords.  It  reached  them  on  the  3rd  of  August,  and 
was  promptly  thrown  out  by  a  majority  of  231. 

This  action  was  received  by  the  Irish  members  as 
a  declaration  of  open  war.  Nothing  loath,  they  drew 
the  sword,  and  threw  away  the  scabbard.  Mr.  John 
Dillon,  posting  off  to  Ireland,  delivered  at  Kildare 
a  speech  Mr.  Forster  described  in  the  House  as 
"  wicked  and  cowardly. "  Mr.  Dillon,  returning  to 
Westminster,  moved  the  adjournment  of  the  House 
in  order  to  reply  to  Mr.  Forster 's  attack.  This  led 
to  an  animated  debate,  in  which  Mr.  Forster  took 
truculent  part.  The  Irish  members  had  now,  to  the 
delight  of  the  Conservatives,  finally  broken  with  the 
Liberal  Government.  In  what  remained  of  the  Ses- 
sion they  took  every  opportunity  of   attacking   Mr. 


144  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

Forster's  administration.  It  was  in  these  late  Au- 
gust days  of  the  opening  Session  of  the  new  Parlia- 
ment there  was  first  heard  in  the  House  of  Commons 
the  cry  of  "Buckshot!  Buckshot!"  angrily  directed 
against  the  Quaker  Minister. 

The  winter  was  a  black  one  in  Ireland.  The  class 
of  landlords  who  had  swelled  the  list  of  evictions, 
finding  themselves  sustained  by  the  action  of  the 
Lords,  ran  them  up  with  freer  hand.  By  the  end  of 
the  year  there  was  record  of  2,110  families  turned 
out  on  the  roadside.  The  Land  League,  growing  in 
numbers  and  in  power,  held  meetings  all  over  the 
country,  advising  tenants  whose  rents  were  fixed 
above  Grifiiths's  valuation,  to  pay  no  rent  and  pas- 
sively resist  eviction.  Attention  was  concentrated 
on  the  case  of  Captain  Boycott,  agent  of  Lord  Erne, 
farming  a  considerable  acreage  at  Lough  Mask.  He 
having  served  notices  upon  some  of  Lord  Erne's  ten- 
ants, the  countryside,  with  one  consent,  agreed  it 
would  hold  no  communication  with  him.  None 
would  work  for  him.  None  would  sell  him  food  or 
fetch  him  water.  The  Ulster  Orangemen  responded 
to  his  cry  for  help  by  despatching  a  body  of  armed 
men  to  gather  in  his  imperilled  harvest.  The  un- 
happy Chief  Secretary  apprehending  disturbance  when 
the  emergency  men  came  within  pistol  shot  of  the  peas- 
ants of  Connemara,  hastily  despatched  a  small  army 
to  keep  the  peace.  A  lilow  was  struck  in  another 
direction,  the  officials  of  the  Land  League  V)cing 
indicted  for   seditious  conspiracy.     Amongst  those 


THE   IRISH  PARTY.  145 

who  stood  in  the  dock  on  this  charge  were  Mr. 
Parnell,  Mr.  Dillon,  Mr.  T.  D.  Sullivan,  Mr.  Sexton, 
and  Mr.  Biggar,  all  members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. The  jury,  as  might  have  been  expected,  did 
not  agree  on  a  verdict,  and  amid  the  huzzas  of  the 
Dublin  populace,  the  prisoners  were  set  free. 

A  winter  of  such  discontent  was  not  harbinger  of 
peace  in  the  spring.  Parliament  was  summoned  to 
meet  on  the  6th  of  January,  an  unusually  early  date. 
Of  two  measures  in  a  long  list,  upon  which  attention 
was  chiefly  centred,  both  related  to  Ireland.  One 
was  a  new  Coercion  Bill,  the  other  a  Land  Bill,  a 
nicely  balancing  arrangement  which,  with  the  fatal- 
ity that  seemed  to  dog  the  steps  of  the  Government, 
succeeded  in  enraging  both  sections  of  the  Opposi- 
tion. Mr.  Gladstone  announced  that  priority  should 
be  given  to  the  Coercion  measures,  which  were 
divided  into  two  Bills,  one  For  the  Better  Protection 
of  Persons  and  Property  in  Ireland,  the  other 
Amending  the  Law  relating  to  the  Carrying  and 
Possession  of  Arms.  On  Monday,  the  24th  January, 
Mr.  Forster  introduced  the  Coercion  measure,  which 
he  studiouslv  called  the  Protection  Bill.  On  the  next 
day  Mr.  Gladstone  moved  a  resolution  giving  priority 
to  the  Bill  till  it  should  have  passed  all  its  stages. 
The  resolution  was  carried  by  251  votes  against  33, 
a  conclusion  arrived  at  only  at  the  close  of  a  sitting 
that  had  lasted  uninterruptedly  for  twenty-two  hours^ 
in  the  course  of  which  Mr.  Biggar  succeeded  in  getting 
himself  suspended  under  the  new  rules  of  procedure. 

10 


CHAPTER   XYL 

SUSPENSION   OF   THIRTY-SEVEN   MEMBERS. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  some  memorable  scenes. 
Day  by  day  through  the  week  the  Government,  sup- 
ported by  the  Conservative  Opposition,  slowly  pressed 
through  the  motion  for  leave  to  introduce  the  Coer- 
cion Bill;  the  Irish  members  dashing  themselves 
with  wild  fury  against  the  rare  alliance  of  forces.  On 
Monday,  the  31st  of  January,  the  Parnellites,  invig- 
orated by  a  couple  of  days'  recess,  returned  to  the 
fight  with  renewed  energy.  At  that  time,  the  clos- 
ure not  having  been  adopted,  they  were,  within  cer- 
tain limits,  masters  of  the  situation.  Their  plan  of 
campaign  was  to  move  an  amendment,  upon  which 
the  thirty-six  members  faithful  to  Mr.  Parnell  should 
in  succession  make  speeches,  each  holding  forth  as 
long  as  physical  energy  and  flux  of  words  enabled 
him.  When  each  had  had  his  say,  and  the  conspir- 
acy of  silence  on  the  Ministerial  benches  had  been  bro- 
ken by  a  Minister  uttering  the  fewest  possible  words 
by  way  of  reply,  the  House  divided.  Immediately 
afterwards  an  Irishman  moved  the  adjournment  of 
the  debate,  and  the  whole  thing  went  forward  again. 
It  was  evident  that  this  was  a  case  in  which  the 
battle  would  be  to  the  strong.  It  was  simply  a 
matter    of    i)hysical    endurance.       Tlie    Parnellites 


SUSPENSION  OF  THIRTY-SEVEN  MEMBERS.    147 

divided  themselves  into  watches,  after  the  fashion  of 
a  ship's  crew.  Whilst  some  slept  others  remained 
at  their  posts,  keeping  the  thing  going.  Hour 
followed  hour,  night  day,  and  day  night.  On  Tues- 
day afternoon,  the  House  having  been  in  session  unin- 
terruptedly for  twenty-four  hours,  Lord  Beaconsfield 
paid  a  rare  visit  to  the  scene.  Looking  down  from 
the  Peers'  Gallery  on  the  wearied  face  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, seated  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  he,  with  new 
application  of  his  historical  phrase,  doubtless  thanked 
Heaven  there  was  a  House  of  Lords. 

The  necessity  of  working  in  shifts  was  also  en- 
forced upon  the  Chair,  the  Speaker  and  Mr.  Lyon 
Playfair,  then  Chairman  of  Committees,  taking  turn 
and  turn  about.  Mr.  Bright  bore  his  share  of  the 
burden  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  speaking  more  than 
once  with  a  bitterness  that  galled  to  the  quick  Irish- 
men who  had,  in  other  times,  learned  to  look  upon 
him  as  their  country's  champion.  All  through 
Tuesday  night  the  hurly-burly  continued.  At  nine 
o'clock  on  Wednesday  morning  the  wearied  House 
quickened  with  swift  apprehension  that  a  crisis  was 
at  hand.  Mr.  Gladstone  had  just  arrived,  looking 
pale  and  stern.  Rapidly  the  Treasury  Bench  filled 
up.  There  was  an  ominous  muster  on  the  Front 
Opposition  Bench  of  right  honorable  gentlemen  who, 
throughout  the  prolonged  scene,  had  been  insistent 
upon  action  being  taken  to  restore  the  dignity  of  the 
House.  Mr.  Lyon  Playfair  was  in  the  Chair,  which 
he  had  occupied  all  the  night.     Towards  six  o'clock 


148  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

in  the  morning,  Mr.  Biggar,  who  had  passed  his 
"  watch  below  "  on  a  couple  of  chairs  in  the  library, 
reappeared  and  cheerily  informed  the  House  that  he 
"had  had  a  good  sleep  and  came  back  like  a  giant 
refreshed."  At  nine  o'clock  the  member  for  Cavan 
was  again  on  his  feet,  saying  nothing  at  interminable 
length.  His  remarks  were  broken  in  upon  by  a  sud- 
den, swift,  triumphant  cheer.  Looking  up,  Mr. 
Biggar  saw  the  Speaker  in  wig  and  gown  making 
stately  progress  to  the  chair. 

Mr.  Lyon  Playfair  vacated  the  seat  and  the  Speaker, 
with  stern  cry  of  "  Order !  Order !  "  motioned  Mr. 
Biggar  to  resume  his  seat,  an  order  which  that 
gentleman,  in  a  moment  of  weakness  begotten  of 
surprise,  obeyed.  The  Speaker,  reading  from  a 
manuscript  held  in  a  hand  that  visibly  shook  with 
emotion,  observed  that  the  proposal  to  bring  in  the 
Protection  Bill  had  been  under  discussion  for  five 
days,  the  opposition  throughout  that  time  being 
purely  obstructive.  Under  existing  rules  the  Chair 
was  impotent  to  withstand  these  tactics.  The 
Speaker  had  therefore  resolved  to  take  upon  himself 
the  responsibility  of  ending  the  conflict  by  declining 
to  call  upon  any  member  who  might  present  himself 
with  intention  of  continuing  the  discussion,  and 
would  forthwith  put  the  question. 

This  announcement  was  received  with  tumultuous 
cheering,  which  drowned  the  shrill  protest  of  the 
Irish  members.  It  was  an  amendment  moved  by 
Dr.  Lyons  that  chanced  at  the  time  to  be  under  dis- 


SUSPENSION  OF  THIRTY-SEVEN  MEMBERS.     149 

ciission.  On  a  division  it  was  negatived  by  164  to 
19,  the  minority  representing  "the  watch  on  deck" 
of  the  Parnellites,  the  captain  himself  chancing  at 
this  time  to  be  in  his  berth.  The  Speaker  next  put 
the  main  question,  that  leave  be  given  to  bring  in 
the  Bill.  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy  rose  to  reopen  debate 
on  this  new  issue.  The  Speaker,  rising  at  the  same 
time,  met  the  interposition  with  the  cry  of  "  Order ! 
Order !  '*  and  proceeded  to  put  the  question.  Where- 
upon the  Irish  members,  rising  to  their  feet,  shouted 
"Privilege!  Privilege!"  and,  bowing  with  ceremo- 
nious respect  to  the  Chair,  left  the  House.  The 
Chamber  still  echoing  with  their  new  battle-cry,  Mr. 
Forster  promptly  brought  in  the  Bill,  which  was 
read  a  second  time,  and  the  House  adjourned,  after 
having  sat  continuously  for  forty-one  hours. 

It  being  Wednesday,  the  Standing  Orders,  disre- 
garding the  unexampled  events  of  the  week,  necessi- 
tated a  fresh  sitting  at  noon.  The  Speaker  was 
punctually  in  his  place,  the  House  densely  crowded. 
Mr.  Parnell  on  entering  was  wildly  cheered  by  the 
full  force  of  his  party.  He  proposed  to  move  a  reso- 
lution declaring  that  Mr.  Speaker,  in  peremptorily 
closing  debate,  had  committed  a  breach  of  the  privi- 
leges of  the  House.  The  Speaker  pointed  out  that 
the  question  not  being  one  of  privilege,  but  one  of 
order,  might  be  submitted  only  in  the  usual  way 
after  due  notice.  The  wrangle  continued  till  the 
hour  was  reached  when,  happily,  on  Wednesdays, 
debate  automatically  stands  adjourned. 


150  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

On  the  next  day  the  storm  raged  with  even  wilder 
force.  News  had  reached  Westminster  that  at  one 
o'clock  Mr.  Davitt  had  been  arrested.  The  business 
of  the  day  as  proposed  by  Ministers  was  a  motion  by 
the  Prime  Minister,  giving  precedence  to  the  Pro- 
tection Bill  on  the  ground  of  urgency.  The  Par- 
nellites,  masters  of  Parliamentary  strategy,  were 
determined  to  make  the  most  of  what  period  of  com- 
parative impunity  was  left  to  them.  Mr.  Gladstone, 
in  obedience  to  a  call  from  the  Speaker,  had  risen  to 
move  his  resolution.  He  had  not  proceeded  through 
many  sentences  when  Mr.  Dillon,  from  his  place 
below  the  gangway,  began  to  speak.  He  was  met  by 
an  outburst  of  stormy  cries  of  "  Order !  Order !  "  The 
Speaker  was  on  his  feet  motioning  him  to  sit  down. 
Mr.  Dillon  folding  his  arms,  stood  silent,  motion- 
less, defiant.  So  he  stood  whilst  the  Speaker  "  named 
him  "  as  being  guilty  of  wilful  and  persistent  obstruc- 
tion. Mr.  Gladstone  moved  the  consequent  motion 
"that  Mr.  Dillon  be  suspended  from  the  service  of 
the  House."  A  division  was  challenged,  33  oppos- 
ing the  motion,  395  trooping  out  into  the  other  lobby 
in  support  of  Law  and  Order. 

Then  followed  a  scene  unprecedented  even  in  these 
strange  times.  The  Speaker,  having  repeated  the 
figures  of  the  division,  called  upon  Mr.  Dillon  to 
withdraw.  "I  respectfully  decline  to  withdraw," 
said  Mr.  Dillon.  Tlic  injunction  being  repeated, 
and  the  defiance  renewed,  the  Speaker  called  upon 
the  Sergeant-at-Arms  to  remove  the  hon.   member. 


SUSPENSION  OF  THIRTY-SEVEN  MEMBERS.    151 

The  Ser2:eaiit-at-Arms  advanced  to  the  corner  of  the 
bench  on  which  Mr.  Dillon  was  seated  and  awaited 
his  surrender.  Mr.  Dillon  did  not  budge.  At  a  sign 
from  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  four  of  the  white-cra- 
vatted,  gold-chained,  elderly,  respectable  gentlemen 
who  serve  as  messengers  in  the  House  of  Commons 
marched  up  shoulder  to  shoulder.  Physically  it  was 
not  an  imposing  demonstration  of  force.  As  was 
observed  at  the  time,  in  echo  of  occasional  obituary 
notices  in  The  Times,  "their  united  ages  would  have 
amounted  to  two  hundred  and  sixty  years. "  But  at 
sight  of  them  Mr.  Dillon  at  once  surrendered,  and 
amid  cheers  from  the  Ministerialists,  and  cries  of 
"  Shame  !  "  "  Cowards  I  "  from  the  Parnellites,  he 
withdrew. 

Again  Mr.  Gladstone  attempted  to  continue  his 
speech.  The  O'Donoghue,  at  this  period  of  his 
varied  career  ranking  as  a  Parnellite,  moved  the 
adjournment  of  the  debate.  The  Speaker  ruled  that 
Mr.  Gladstone  was  in  possession  of  the  House.  "I 
move,"  shouted  Mr.  Parnell,  "that  the  right  hon. 
gentleman  be  not  heard."  The  Speaker  warned  Mr. 
Parnell  that  his  conduct  was  obstructive,  and  if  per- 
sisted in,  notice  must  be  taken  of  it.  Mr.  Parnell, 
white  with  passion,  rose  again  and  insisted  upon 
beino;  heard.  "I  name  Mr.  Parnell  as  disrerardinir 
the  authority  of  the  Chair,"  said  the  Speaker. 

The  piece  of  paper  on  which  the  terms  of  the 
motion  for  suspension  had  been  written  out  was 
hastily    passed     up     to    the    Premier,    who    moved 


152  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

Mr.  ParneH's  suspension.  A  division  being  chal- 
lenged, the  usual  order  to  clear  the  House  was  given. 
The  Parnellites  had  a  fresh  surprise  in  store  for  out- 
raged authority.  They  declined  to  leave  their  places, 
remaining  seated  whilst  405  members  crowded  the 
"  Aye  "  lobby,  seven  members  going  the  other  way. 
The  Speaker  declaring  "  the  Ayes  have  it  "  called 
upon  Mr.  Parnell  to  withdraw.  Mr.  Parnell,  not 
less  respectfully  than  Mr.  Dillon,  refused  to  obey. 
The  Sergeant-at-Arms  again  appeared  with  summons 
to  retire.  The  Irish  Leader  was  not  to  be  removed 
with  anything  less  in  the  way  of  overpowering  de- 
monstration than  had  been  forthcoming  in  the  case 
of  his  lieutenant.  Accordingly  once  more  the  four 
elderly  messengers  were  mustered  and  marched  up 
the  House,  indomitable,  irresistible.  At  sight  of 
them  Mr.  ParneU's  scruples  vanished,  and  he  quietly 
left  the  House. 

After  this  what  followed  partook  of  the  character 
of  anti-climax.  The  full  muster  of  Parnellites  was 
thirty-seven.  One  by  one  in  succession  they  revolted 
against  the  authority  of  the  Chair,  were  suspended, 
and  marched  forth.  Some  insisted  on  the  full  pan- 
oply of  the  four  messengers.  Others,  more  consid- 
erate, sparing  the  officials  addition  to  physical  labor 
which,  in  the  case  of  the  two  seniors,  had  evidently 
begun  to  tell,  were  content  to  follow  the  unsupported 
bidding  of  the  Scrgeant-at-Arms.  After  the  first 
two  hours  the  ])rocess  began  to  pall  on  the  jaded 
palate.     But  there  still  remained  an  hour  and  a  half 


SUSPENSION  OF  THIRTY-SEVEN  MEMBERS.    153 

before  the  glass  doors  had  closed  on  the  last  of  the 
recalcitrants. 

Order  now  reigning  in  Warsaw,  Mr.  Gladstone 
succeeded  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  often-inter- 
rupted  task. 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

RESIGNATION   OF   MR.    FORSTER. 

In  the  following  Session  (1882),  the  relations  of  the 
Government  with  Ireland  and  the  Irish  members 
reached  even  an  acuter  phase.  The  Land  Bill,  passed 
by  Herculean  efforts,  in  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had 
personally  borne  the  lion's  share,  failed  to  pacify 
Ireland.  The  National  Land  League  was  in  active 
force.  Shortly  after  the  prorogation,  a  Land  League 
Convention  held  in  Dublin  was  attended  bv  1,300 
delegates,  trooping  in  from  all  parts  of  Ireland. 
The  Convention  was  followed  by  meetings  held  in 
every  town  and  village,  at  which,  amongst  other 
things,  the  abolition  of  landlordism  was  accepted  as 
a  main  plank  in  the  National  programme.  "No 
Rent,"  w^as  the  watchword  throughout  the  land. 
Boycotting  was  a  common  process,  and  stories  of 
personal  outrage  filled  the  papers.  Ireland  was  in  a 
state  of  open  revolt  against  the  authority  of  the  law. 
Speaking  at  Leeds  on  the  7th  October,  1881,  Mr. 
Gladstone  uttered  an  ominous  warning.  "I  have," 
he  said,  "not  lost  confidence  in  the  people  of  Ire- 
land. The  progress  they  have  made  in  many  points 
is  to  me  a  proof  that  we  ought  to  rely  ui)on  them. 
But  they  have  dangers  and  temptations  and  seduc- 
tions offered  to  them  such  as  never  were  before  pre- 


EESlGyATlON    OF  MR.    FORSTER.  155 

sentcd  to  a  people,  and  the  trial  of  their  virtue  is 
severe.  Nevertheless,  they  will  have  to  go  through 
that  trial ;  we  have  endeavored  to  pay  them  the  debt 
of  justice,  and  of  liberal  justice.  We  have  no  reason 
to  believe  they  do  not  acknowledge  it.  We  wish 
they  may  have  the  courage  to  acknowledge  it  man- 
fully and  openly,  and  to  repudiate,  as  they  ought  to 
repudiate,  the  evil  counsels  with  which  it  is  sought 
to  seduce  them  from  the  path  of  duty  and  of  right, 
as  well  as  of  public  law  and  of  public  order.  We 
are  convinced  that  the  Irish  nation  desires  to  take 
free  and  full  advantage  of  the  Land  Act.  But  Mr. 
Parnell  says:  'Xo,  you  must  wait  until  I  have  sub- 
mitted cases ;  until  I  tell  vou  whether  the  court  that 
Parliament  has  established  can  be  trusted. '  Trusted 
for  what  ?  Trusted  to  reduce  what  he  says  is  seven- 
teen millions  a  year  of  property,  to  the  three  mil- 
lions which  he  graciously  allows.  And  when  he 
finds  it  is  not  to  be  trusted  for  that  —  and  I  hope  in 
God  it  is  not  to  be  trusted  for  any  such  purpose  — 
then  he  will  endeavor  to  work  his  will  by  attempting 
to  procure  for  the  Irish  people  the  repeal  of  the  Act. 
But  in  the  mean  time  what  savs  he  ?  That  until  he 
has  submitted  his  test  cases  any  farmer  who  pays  his 
rent  is  a  fool  —  a  dangerous  denunciation  in  Ireland, 
a  dangerous  thing  to  be  denounced  as  a  fool  by  a 
man  who  has  made  himself  the  head  of  the  most 
violent  party  in  Ireland,  and  who  has  offered  the 
greatest  temptations  to  the  Irish  people.  That  is  no 
small  matter.     He  desires  to  arrest  the  operation  of 


156  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

the  Act,  to  stand  as  Aaron  stood,  between  the  living 
and  the  dead;  but  to  stand  there,  not  as  Aaron  stood, 
to  arrest,  but  to  spread  the  plague. 

"  These  opinions  are  called  forth  by  the  grave  state 
of  the  facts.  I  do  not  give  them  to  you  as  anything 
more,  but  they  are  opinions  sustained  by  reference 
to  words  and  to  actions.  They  all  have  regard  to 
this  great  impending  crisis  in  which  we  depend  upon 
the  good  sense  of  the  people,  and  in  which  we  are 
determined  that  no  force,  and  no  fear  of  force,  and 
no  fear  of  ruin  through  force,  shall,  so  far  as  we  are 
concerned,  and  as  it  is  in  our  power  to  decide  the 
question,  prevent  the  Irish  people  from  having  the 
full  and  free  benefit  of  the  Land  Act.  But  if,  when 
we  have  that  short  further  experience  to  which  I 
have  referred,  it  shall  then  appear  that  there  is  still 
to  be  fought  a  final  conflict  in  Ireland,  between  law 
on  the  one  side  and  sheer  lawlessness  on  the  other; 
if  the  law,  purged  from  defect  and  from  any  taint  of 
injustice,  is  still  to  be  repelled  and  refused,  and  the 
first  conditions  of  political  society  are  to  be  set  at 
nought,  then  I  say  without  hesitation  the  resources 
of  civilization  against  its  enemies  are  not  yet  ex- 
hausted. I  shall  recognize  in  full,  when  the  facts 
are  ripe  —  and  their  ripeness  is  approaching  —  the 
duty  and  the  responsibility  of  the  Government.  I 
call  upon  all  orders  and  degrees  of  men,  not  in  these 
two  kingdoms,  but  in  these  three,  to  support  the 
Government  in  the  discharge  of  its  duty  and  in  acquit- 
ting itself  of  that  responsibility.     I,  for  one,  in  that 


RESIGNATION   OF  MR.   FORSTER.  157 

state  of  facts,  relying  upon  my  fellow-countrymen  in 
these  three  nations  associated  together,  have  not  a 
doubt  of  the  result." 

Mr.  Parnell  replied  at  Wexford  in  a  defiant  speech, 
in  which  he  characterized  Mr.  Gladstone's  remarks 
as  "unscrupulous  and  dishonest."  The  Irish  people, 
he  declared,  would  not  rest  or  relax  their  efforts  till 
they  had  regained  their  lost  legislative  independence. 

Swift  on  these  two  speeches  fell  a  heavy  blow.  On 
the  13th  of  October  Mr.  Parnell  was  arrested  in 
Dublin,  and  carried  off  to  Kilmainham.  Mr.  John 
Dillon,  Mr.  Sexton,  and  Mr.  0 'Kelly,  members  of 
Parliament,  were  also  lodged  in  Kilmainham  with  the 
chief  officials  of  the  League.  Mr.  Egan,  the  Treas- 
urer of  the  League,  fled  to  Paris.  Mr.  Biggar  and 
other  Irish  members  escaped  the  fate  of  their  col- 
leagues by  keeping  out  of  Ireland. 

When  the  House  of  Commons  met  for  the  Session 
of  1882,  the  Irish  Leader  and  some  of  his  principal 
lieutenants  were  still  in  Kilmainham.  Coercion  was 
in  full  swing.  In  April  it  was  stated  in  the  House 
of  Commons  that  Mr.  Forster  had  under  lock  and 
key  not  less  than  600  persons,  imprisoned  under  the 
Coercion  Acts.  Ireland,  its  rights  and  its  wrongs, 
blazed  up  fiercely  night  after  night.  In  the  Lords 
a  motion  made  by  Lord  Donoughmore  for  a  Select 
Committee  to  inquire  into  the  working  of  the  Irish 
Land  Act  was  carried,  twelve  Liberal  Peers  voting 
against  Mr.  Gladstone's  policy,  a  matter  at  that  time 
thought  worthy  of  notice.     This  attempt  to  go  back 


158  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

upon  legislation  passed  only  in  the  previous  Session 
roused  Mr.  Gladstone  to  mighty  anger.  He  met  the 
action  of  the  Lords  with  a  defiant  resolution,  debated 
through  four  stormy  nights,  and  carried  by  303  votes 
to  235,  figures  that  indicate  the  Government  were  still 
in  possession  of  a  stout  majority. 

By  the  end  of  April  matters  had  apparently 
reached  a  dead-lock.  After  a  pause  there  followed 
what  Lord  Salisbury  described  as  "  prodigies  ap- 
pearing in  the  political  sky."  It  was  rumored  that 
Lord  Cowper,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  L^eland,  had 
resigned.  If  that  were  true,  how  did  Mr.  Forster 
stand  ?  Evidently  some  portentous  movement  was 
going  forward  within  the  recesses  of  the  Cabinet. 
Mr.  Chamberlain  was  unusually  active.  He  was  to  be 
found  on  the  terrace  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  in 
the  corridors,  in  the  reading-rooms,  in  earnest  collo- 
quy with  Irish  members  who  through  the  Session  had 
distinguished  themselves  by  the  violence  of  their 
denunciation  of  the  Government.  Here  is  a  note 
made  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  28th  of  April, 
written  without  knowledge  of  the  crisis  at  the 
moment  about  to  burst.  It  may  be  interesting  as 
giving  a  transient  view  of  the  situation  as  observed 
by  an  eye-witness  at  the  moment  unaware  of  its  true 
inwardness :  — 

"  Of  the  two  score  questions  on  the  paper  this  afternoon  more 
than  lialf  were  put  by  Irish  members,  and  were  adib'cssed  to  the 
Chief  Secretary.  It  is  part  of  the  organi/A'd  campaign  of  the 
Land   League   members    to   worry  ]\lr.  Forster  with    (Questions. 


RESIGNATION  OF  MR.   FORSTER.  159 

Many  relate  to  trivial  matters  ;  all  present  a  great  superstructure 
of  exaf2;!]!;eration  built  upon  an  insiij^nificant  substratum  of  fact. 
Mr.  Forster  is,  unfortunately,  deficient  in  qualities  that  would 
make  it  possil)le  for  a  Minister  to  meet  tactics  like  these.  The 
baiting  of  the  Chief  Secretary  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  the 
Irish  members  is  the  nearest  approach  permitted  by  public  opinion 
in  this  country  to  the  bull  fights  in  ]\Iadrid.  There  is  the  same 
agonized  blundering  here  and  there  by  the  object  of  attack,  the 
same  perfect  command  of  the  situation  by  the  Parliamentary 
banderillos  and  picadors.  Sometimes  Mr.  Forster,  reaching  the 
limits  of  human  patience,  breaks  out  in  righteous  wrath  and 
gores  his  assailants.  Whereupon  the  Land  Leaguprs  indignantly 
denounce  him,  and  plaintively  appeal  to  the  Speaker  to  protect 
them.  Oftener,  as  happened  to-night,  he  affects  indifference, 
and,  like  much  else  that  he  does  in  connection  with  Ireland, 
does  it  very  badly.  He  had  brought  down  in  his  despatch-box 
a  bundle  of  sheets  of  foolscap,  on  each  a  question  pasted  on 
the  top,  and  the  conscientious  answer  laboriously  written 
beneath.  One  by  one  as  the  questions  were  put  he  read  his 
answers.  The  slifjhtest  admission  of  a  substratum  of  fact  was 
greeted  with  triumphant  yells  by  the  Land  Leaguers ;  whilst 
any  attempt  to  topple  over  the  superstructure  of  fable  or  ex- 
aggeration was  baffled  by  rude  interruption.  Since  the  Speaker 
did  not  interfere  it  must  be  taken  for  granted  that  this  demon- 
stration did  not  go  beyond  the  bounds  of  Parliamentary  decorum. 
It  certainly  exceeded  all  notion  of  fair  play,  not  to  mention 
the  canons  of  commonest  courtesy. 

"Not  the  least  significant  feature  in  the  incident  was  the 
solitariness  that  surrounded  the  stru2:<jlin(j  ^Minister.  Xot  a  crv 
from  the  Liberal  Benches  cheered  him  in  his  difficulty.  Not  one 
of  his  colleagues  rose  to  ask  the  Speaker  whether  this  constant 
interruption,  these  snarling  cries,  this  insolent  laughter,  formed 
a  breach  of  Parliamentary  order.  With  his  head  down  and  his 
shoulders  squared,  Mr.  Forster  faced  again  and  again  the  little 
mob  below  the  gangway  opposite,  who  gloated  over  his  personal 
discomfort  and  his  political  discomfiture.  This  must  be  one  of 
the  hardest  things  for  ]VIr.  Forster  to  bear  in  his  present  season 
of  tribulation.  As  compared  with  Jonah,  his  treatment  by  those 
who  sail  in  the  same  ship  with  him  is  exceedingly  hard.  Jonah, 
up  to  the  very  moment  when  he  was  handed  over  the  gunwale, 


160  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

was  courteously  treated.  His  convenience  was  consulted  in 
every  way,  and  even  when,  having  had  put  to  him  the  question 
what  should  be  done,  he  answered,  '  Take  me  up  and  cast  me 
forth  into  the  sea,'  his  shipmates  gallantly  bent  again  to  the 
oars,  determined  that,  if  this  thing  must  come,  it  should  not  be 
till  all  else  had  failed. 

"  There  is  nothing  of  this  in  the  attitude  of  Mr.  Forster's  ship- 
mates. And  yet  he  has  been  but  the  instrument  of  the  policy 
framed  in  the  Cabinet  and  adopted  by  overwhelming  majorities 
by  the  Liberal  party  in  the  House  of  Commons.  This  open 
desertion  of  a  comrade  has  a  more  disastrous  effect  upon  the 
morale  of  the  House  of  Commons  than  anything  else  that  could 
be  done.  It  was  one  of  the  characteristics  that  endeared  Lord 
Palmerston  to  the  nation  that  he  stuck  to  a  colleague,  whether  he 
was  right  or  wrong.  Whichever  be  the  case  with  Mr.  Forster, 
he  has  done  right  or  wrong  in  company  with  his  colleagues  and 
his  party,  and  when  the  House  of  Commons  has  presented  to  it 
a  spectacle  such  as  that  witnessed  between  five  and  six  o'clock 
to-night,  it  is  no  wonder  it  should  develop  the  characteristics 
that  just  now  distinguish  it.  What  the  House  of  Commons  likes  to 
feel  is  the  light  guidance  of  a  strong  hand,  or  at  least  the  con- 
sciousness that  it  is  being  led  in  some  particular  direction  to 
some  well  understood  goal.  At  present  it  has  not  even  a  reliable 
finger-post,  and  amid  the  gathering  discontent  and  disgust, 
respectability  and  repute  retire  into  the  background,  and  Mr. 
Callan  comes  to  the  fore." 

Four  days  later,  on  the  2nd  of  May,  Mr.  Gladstone 
made  a  statement  which  filled  the  House  with  amaze- 
ment. Earl  Cowper  had  resigned,  and  so  had  Mr. 
Forster.  Mr.  Parnell,  Mr.  Dillon,  and  Mr.  O'Kelly 
had  been  released  from  Kilmninham.  The  Govern- 
ment, he  added,  intended  to  bring  in  a  measure  deal> 
ing  with  the  arrears  of  rent,  and  the  Bright  Clauses 
of  the  Land  Act.  They  did  not  intend  to  renew  the 
Coercion  Act,  but  would  forthwith  bring  in  a  Bill  to 
strengthen  the  ordinary  law. 


RESIGNATION   OF  MR.   FORSTER.  161 

This  fusillade  of  startling  announcements  was  made 
in  a  House  crowded  in  every  part.  Something  of 
dramatic  interest  was  lost,  owing  to  the  fact  that  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  meeting  an  hour  earlier,  Lord 
Granville  had  forestalled  the  statement.  But  the  real 
interest  centred  in  the  House  of  Commons  ;  and  the 
Lords,  having  wound  up  their  hasty  sitting,  flocked 
over  to  the  Commons,  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury 
paying  one  of  his  rare  visits  to  the  Peers'  Gallery, 
where  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  sat  embedded  in  an 
accumulation  of  excited  peerage.  The  Irish  members 
received  in  ominous  silence  the  announcement  of  the 
release  of  their  comrades,  whilst  the  Conservative 
Opposition,  suddenly  taking  Mr.  Forster  into  their 
favor,  stridently  cheered  Mr.  Gladstone's  announce- 
ment that  his  resignation  was  based  on  the  ground 
that  "  he  declined  to  share  our  responsibility." 

Mr.  Forster's  statement  made  on  the  following  day 
led  to  fresh  developments.  He  spoke  with  unusual 
bitterness,  the  Opposition  boisterously  cheering  when 
from  the  corner  seat  behind  the  Treasury  Bench,  he, 
looking  down  on  his  old  colleagues,  besought  them 
not  to  rest  upon  any  secret  understanding  with  the 
Land  Leaguers,  or  to  try  and  bribe  them  by  con- 
cessions into  obedience  to  the  law.  "  Let  there  be 
no  payment  of  blackmail  to  lawbreakers."  Mr.  Glad- 
stone sprang  up  to  reply.  "  There  has,"  he  protested, 
"  been  no  arrangement,  no  bargain,  no  negotiation. 
Nothing  has  been  asked,  and  nothing  has  been 
taken."     Mr.  Parnell,  re-entering  the  House  for  the 

11 


162  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

first  time  in  the  Session,  took  the  opportunity  of 
making  a  statement,  listened  to  with  strained  atten- 
tion. The  question  of  the  release  of  himself  and  his 
friends  had  not,  he  declared,  entered  into  any  com- 
munication he  had  made  of  his  views  of  the  state 
of  affairs  in  Ireland.  What  he  had  done  was  to  set 
forth  in  writing  his  belief  that  a  settlement  of  the 
arrears  question  would  have  an  enormous  effect  in 
restoring  law  and  order  in  Ireland.  It  would  take 
away  the  last  excuse  for  outrages,  and  would  leave 
liini  and  his  friends  free  to  take  steps  that  might  have 
a  desirable  effect  in  diminishing  them.  Mr.  Dillon 
even  more  warmly  protested  that  he  had  held  no  com- 
munication directly  or  indirectly  with  Ministers. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   KILMAINHAM   TREATY. 

It  was  generally  expected  that  Mr.  Chamberlain  woiihl 
succeed  Mr.  Forster  in  the  Chief  Secretarj'ship.  Per- 
sonal relations  recently  established  with  the  Irish 
members  induced  tliem  to  regard  such  an  appoint- 
ment with  favor.  Had  Mr.  Gladstone  yielded  on 
this  point  the  political  history  of  the  next  three  years 
would  have  been  materially  different  from  what  actu- 
ally befell.  Ignoring  Mr.  Chamberlain's  aspirations 
and  claims,  the  Premier  nominated  to  the  difficult  post 
Lord  Frederick  Cavendish,  promoted  from  a  sub- 
ordinate place  in  the  Ministry. 

On  Saturday  morning,  the  6th  of  Ma}^  Lord 
Frederick  arrived  in  Dublin  to  assume  his  new 
duties.  Late  that  evening  the  Marquis  of  Harting- 
ton,  present  at  a  party  given  at  the  Admiralty  to 
meet  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Edinburgh,  was  taken 
aside  by  a  colleague  in  the  Cabinet  and  told  tliat 
liis  brother  had  been  murdered.  Walking  to  the 
Viceregal  Lodge  in  company  with  ^Mr.  Burke,  after 
taking  part  in  the  State  entry  of  the  new  Viceroy, 
Earl  Spencer,  Lord  Frederick  was  fallen  upon  by 
a  gang  of  men  and  stabbed  in  the  chest.  It  was  a 
fair  summer  evening,  so  light  that  Lord  Spencer, 
standing  at  the  window  of  the  Viceregal  Lodge,  saw 


164  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

4. 

what  he  afterwards  knew  to  have  been  the  death- 
struggle.  Some  boys  on  bicycles,  passing  down  the 
broad  highway,  saw  the  two  gentlemen  walking  and 
talking  together.  Returning  after  a  spin,  they  found 
them  lying  side  by  side  on  the  pathway,  Mr.  Burke 
stabbed  to  the  heart,  Lord  Frederick  with  a  knife 
through  his  right  lung. 

This  outrage  upon  the  person  of  an  inoffensive  man, 
who  had  gone  over  to  Ireland  carrying  the  olive- 
leaf  of  peace,  created  a  profound  sensation.  Mr. 
Parnell  took  the  earliest  opportunity  of  expressing  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  part  of  his  friends  and 
himself,  and,  he  believed,  on  the  part  of  every  Irish- 
man throughout  the  world,  his  detestation  of  the 
horrible  crime  committed.  Some  years  later  Mr. 
Gladstone  incidentally  mentioned  that  the  Irish  leader 
had  privately  written  to  him,  offering,  if  he  thought 
it  would  be  useful,  to  retire  from  public  life.  In  the 
temper  of  the  House  and  the  country  there  was  no 
difficulty  in  hurrying  through  Parliament  a  fresh  and 
more  stringent  Coercion  Bill. 

A  fortnight  after  the  Phoenix  Park  tragedy,  the 
Irish  question  flamed  up  again  around  what  came  to 
be  known  as  the  Kilmainham  Treaty.  Partly  from 
observations  dropped  by  Mr.  Forster,  partly  from 
otlicr  sources,  the  Opposition  had  come  to  the  con- 
cUision  that  the  release  of  ^Ir.  Parnell  and  his  col- 
leagues from  Kilmainham  was  the  price  paid  for 
assurance  of  changed  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
Irish  members  towards  the  Government.     Niglit  after 


THE  KILMAINHAM   TREATY.  165 

night  the  subject  was  returned  to,  and  Ministers  bom- 
barded with  questions.  On  the  15th  of  May,  in  the  course 
of  one  of  these  processes  of  interrogation,  Mr.  Parnell 
read  a  letter  written  by  him  on  the  eve  of  his  release 
from  Kilmainham.  It  set  forth  a  certain  policy  which, 
adopted,  would,  in  Mr.  Parnell's  opinion,  lead  to  the 
pacification  of  Ireland.  The  concluding  passage,  as 
read  by  Mr.  Parnell,  ran  thus :  '"  The  accomplishment 
of  the  programme  I  have  sketched  out  to  you  would, 
in  my  judgment,  be  regarded  by  the  country  as  a 
practical  settlement  of  the  land  question,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  the  Government  at  the  end  of  this  Session 
would,  from  the  state  of  the  country,  feel  themselves 
thoroughly  justified  in  dispensing  with  further  coer- 
cive measures." 

Mr.  Forster  sat  in  the  corner  seat  above  the 
gangway,  which  is  the  haven  of  Ministers  who  have 
cut  themselves  adrift  from  their  colleagues.  He 
listened  attentively  to  the  passages  as  read  by  Mr. 
Parnell.  When  he  concluded  Mr.  Forster  interposed, 
and  asked  whether  the  whole  of  the  letter  had  been 
read  ?  Mr.  Parnell  said  he  had  read  the  whole  of 
the  copy  as  supplied  to  him  by  Captain  O'Shea. 
Captain  O'Shea,  who,  though  at  this  time  on  terms 
of  personal  intimacy  with  Mr.  Parnell,  and  later 
disclosed  as  the  emissary  between  Mr.  Chamberlain 
and  the  captive  Irish  Leader  in  the  preliminaries 
of  the  Kilmainham  Treaty,  usually  sat  with  the 
Ministerialists.  He  was  thus  within  reach  of  Mr. 
Forster,  who,  amid   a  scene  of  growing  excitement. 


166  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

handed  to  him  a  document,  and  asked  him  to  read 
the  last  paragraph.  Captain  O'Shea  showed  some 
unwillingness,  and  there  was  a  bandying  of  the  paper 
to  and  fro  between  the  front  bench  below  the  gang- 
way and  the  shaggy  statesman  in  the  corner  seat. 
Eventually  Captain  O'Shea  read  the  paper  handed  to 
him  by  Mr.  Forster.  It  proved  to  be  a  copy  of  Mr. 
Parnell's  letter,  dated  from  Kilmainham  28th  of  April, 
1882,  addressed  to  Captain  O'Shea.  In  it  appeared  a 
clause  affirming  that  the  settlement  of  the  Land  Ques- 
tion alluded  to  "  would,  I  feel  sure,  enable  us  to  co- 
operate cordially  for  the  future  with  the  Liberal  party 
in  forwarding  Liberal  principles." 

By  whose  authority,  or  at  whose  instigation  this 
important  passage  in  the  letter  had  been  omitted 
from  the  copy  prepared  for  Mr.  Parnell's  reading,  is 
partly  explained  by  Mr.  Chamberlain.  In  the  course 
of  recurrent  conversation  on  the  subject  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain said  that  Captain  O'Shea,  in  privately  com- 
municating Mr.  Parnell's  letter  to  him,  had  asked 
leave  to  withdraw  the  sentence  omitted  from  the  letter 
read  by  Mr.  Parnell.  The  incident  had,  he  assured 
the  scoffing  Conservatives,  made  so  little  impression 
on  his  mind  that  when  the  letter  was  read  by  Mr. 
Parnell  he  had  not  noticed  the  omission  was  made. 
That  the  letter  in  its  complete  form  came  before  the 
Cabinet,  and  was  discussed  by  them  with  the  subse- 
quently omitted  sentence  forming  part  of  the  text, 
appears  from  the  fact  that  the  document  handed 
by  Mr.  Forster  to  Captain   O'Slica  was  the  identical 


THE   KILMAINHAM   TREATY.  167 

one  circulated  among  members  of  the  Cabinet  for 
their  information.  It  was  one  of  the  bitter  re- 
proaches of  the  controversy  that  Mr.  Forster,  in 
handing  about  the  scrap  of  paper,  had  betrayed  the 
confidence  of  the  Cabinet.  However  it  came  about, 
by  whomsoever  inspired,  the  omission  of  the  sentence 
was  a  petty  machination  that  invested  the  whole  pro- 
ceeding with  an  underground  air  of  mystery  distaste- 
ful to  the  House  of  Commons,  and  most  harmful  to  the 
Ministry. 

The  Government  had  started,  after  the  fashion  of 
all  Ministries  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Gladstone, 
with  a  comprehensive  programme  of  work.  But,  as 
will  be  seen,  things  were  already  getting  into  a 
hopeless  muddle  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
sober  legislation  went  to  the  wall.  The  new  Coer- 
cion Act  and  an  An^ears  Bill,  the  latter  much  mauled 
by  the  House  of  Lords,  were  the  only  important 
measures  of  a  prolonged  Session.  On  the  twentieth 
night  in  Committee  on  the  Coercion  Bill  twenty-five 
Irish  members  were  suspended.  In  mid-July  there 
came  an  echo  of  the  bombardment  of  Alexandria  in 
the  resignation  of  Mr.  Bright,  who  returned  to  his 
old  place  at  the  corner  of  the  second  bench  below  the 
gangway,  the  breadth  of  which  passage  separated  him 
from  his  old  colleague,  Mr.  Forster.  Prorogued  on 
the  18th  of  August,  Parliament  met  again  on  the 
24th  of  October,  and  engaged  upon  the  New  Rules  of 
Procedure,  by  which  it  was  hoped  obstruction  might 
be  scotched. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

GATHERING   CLOUDS. 

The  Session  of  1883  was,  by  comparison  with  its 
stormy  predecessors,  uneventful.  Government  ap- 
proached it  with  large  arrears  of  work,  which  they 
hoped  to  ease  off  by  the  help  of  the  New  Rules  of 
Procedure  and  the  establishment  of  Grand  Commit- 
tees. That  three  weeks  were  occupied  with  debate 
on  the  Address  showed  that  the  Closure  was  not  such 
a  useful  instrument  as  had  been  anticipated.  An 
attempt  to  pass  a  Parliamentary  Oaths  Bill  aroused 
much  angry  passion,  occupied  considerable  time,  and 
was  thrown  out  by  a  majority  of  three  in  a  House  of 
581  members.  The  main  results  of  this  fourth  Ses- 
sion of  the  harried  Parliament  was  the  passing  of 
Agricultural  Holdings  Bills  for  England  and  Scot- 
land, the  Bankruptcy  Bill,  the  Corrupt  Practices 
Bill,  and  a  Bill  dealing  with  Patents. 

In  the  Session  of  1884  Egypt  reappeared  on  the 
scene,  and  was  made  much  of  by  an  active  Opposi- 
tion, inspired  by  signs  of  growing  weariness  on  the 
Treasury  Bench.  Two  votes  of  censure  were  brought 
forward  in  rapid  succession,  the  Government  major- 
ity on  the  second  dropping  to  twenty-eight.  The 
great  achievement  of  the  Session,  sufficient  to  make 


GATHERING   CLOUDS.  169 

it  memorable,  was  the  passing  of  a  new  Reform  Bill, 
of  which  Mr.  Gladstone,  ever  greedy  for  work,  took 
personal  direction.  In  this  battle,  as  often  happened 
with  Mr.  Gladstone,  his  most  potent  enemies  were 
those  of  his  own  household.  The  Conservatives,  hav- 
ing done  enough  for  the  extension  of  the  franchise 
under  Mr.  Disraeli's  leadership  in  1867,  naturally 
objected  to  further  action  in  that  direction.  That 
was  an  attitude  to  be  expected,  and  might  be  suc- 
cessfully dealt  with.  What  the  Ministry  had  most 
to  fear  was  the  impatience  of  able  members  in  their 
own  ranks,  whose  implacable  principle  and  stern 
sense  of  duty  would  impel  them  to  wreck  a  great  and 
beneficent  measure  if  on  some  matter  of  detail  it 
was  not  brought  into  absolute  agreement  with  their 
personal  view. 

It  was  to  this  section  of  his  following  that  Mr. 
Gladstone  turned  and  addressed  the  closing  sen- 
tences of  the  speech  in  which,  on  the  28th  of  Febru- 
ary, he  introduced  the  Franchise  Bill.  "I  hope,"  he 
said,  "the  House  will  look  at  this  measure  as  the 
Liberal  party  in  1831  looked  at  the  Reform  Bill  of 
that  date  and  determined  that  they  would  waive  crit- 
icism of  minute  details,  that  they  would  waive  par- 
ticular preferences  and  predilections,  and  would  look 
at  the  broad  scope  and  general  effect  of  the  measure. 
Do  that  upon  this  occasion.  It  is  a  Bill  worth  hav- 
ing, and  if  it  is  worth  having,  again  I  say  it  is  a 
Bill  worth  your  not  endangering.  Let  us  enter  into 
no  by-ways  which  would  lead  us  off  the  path  marked 


170  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

out  sti^aight  before  us.  Let  us  not  wander  on  the 
hilltops  of  speculation.  Let  us  not  wander  into  the 
morasses  and  fogs  of  doubt.  We  are  firm  in  the 
faith  that  enfranchisement  is  good,  that  the  people 
may  be  trusted,  that  the  voters  under  the  Constitu- 
tion are  the  strength  of  the  Constitution.  What  we 
want  in  order  to  carry  this  Bill,  considering,  as  I 
fully  believe,  that  the  very  large  majority  of  this 
country  are  favorable  to  its  principles  —  what  we 
want  in  order  to  carry  it  is  union,  and  union  only. 
What  will  endanger  it  is  disunion,  and  disunion 
only.  Let  us  hold  firmly  together,  and  success  will 
crown  our  effort.  You  will,  as  much  as  any  former 
Parliament  that  has  conferred  great  legislative  bene- 
fits on  the  nation,  have  your  reward,  and 
'  Read  your  history  in  a  nation's  eyes.' 

You  will  have  deserved  it  by  the  benefits  you  will 
have  conferred.  You  will  have  made  this  strong 
nation  stronger  still,  stronger  by  its  closer  union 
without;  stronger  within  by  union  between  class  and 
class,  and  by  arranging  all  classes  and  all  portions 
of  the  community  in  one  solid  compact  mass  round 
the  ancient  throne  which  it  has  loved  so  well,  and 
round  a  Constitution  now  to  be  more  than  ever 
powerful  and  more  than  ever  free." 

The  ])rogrcss  of  the  Bill  was  delayed  by  votes  of 
censure  and  miscellaneous  discussions  around  Supj)ly. 
When  it  reached  the  Lords,  objection  taken  by  Con- 
servatives in  the  Commons  to  dealing  with  the  ex- 
tension of   the  franchise   unless  accompanied  by  a 


GATHERING   CLOUDS.  171 

scheme  of  redistribution  was  renewed.  A  hostile 
amendment  based  on  this  objection  was  carried  by 
205  votes  against  146.  An  autumn  Session  was 
arranged  specially  to  deal  with  redistribution.  The 
House  met  on  the  23rd  of  October,  the  Franchise 
Bill  being  forthwith  introduced.  Conciliation  was 
in  the  air,  and  presently  took  the  happy  but  un- 
usual form  of  a  sort  of  joint  Committee  of  Leaders 
of  parties.  Lord  Salisbury  and  Sir  Stafford  North- 
cote,  walking  over  to  Downing  Street,  sat  down 
with  Mr.  Gladstone,  Lord  Hartington,  and  Sir  Charles 
Dilke,  and  in  a  couple  of  hours  had  come  to  an  un- 
derstanding whereby  the  Franchise  Bill  passed  through 
the  Lords.  After  a  Christmas  vacation,  the  House, 
reassembling  on  the  19th  of  February,  1885,  set 
itself  to  work  in  committee  upon  a  Redistribution 
Bill,  which  received  the  Eoyal  Assent  on  the  25th 
of  June. 

Thus  was  a  great  work  practically  accomplished. 
But  it  was  evident  that  the  Government's  mandate 
was  exhausted  and  their  strength  failing.  For 
the  amount  of  labor  cast  upon  Ministers,  the  Par- 
liament of  1880-5  certainly  beats  the  record.  All- 
night  sittings  were  a  matter  of  frequent  occurrence. 
The  order  of  business  was  constantly  interrupted 
by  motions  for  the  adjournment  and  pitched  battles 
upon  votes  of  censure.  The  question  hour  came  to 
be  an  instrument  of  prolonged  torture.  The  House 
meeting  for  public  business  at  half-past  four,  the 
Orders  of  the  Day  were  rarely  entered  upon  before 


172  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

six  o'clock.  On  one  occasion  (in  June,  1880)  the 
House  of  Commons  found  itself  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning  engaged  with  questions,  the  list  having 
been  opened  at  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon.  In 
the  mean  while  Mr.  O'Donnell  had  carried  out  his 
attack  upon  M.  Challemel-Lacour,  recently  appointed 
French  Minister  at  this  Court. 

For  comparatively  young  men  on  the  Treasury 
Bench  the  physical  ordeal  was  trying.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, with  his  threescore  years  and  ten  upon  his 
back,  bore  more  than  his  full  burden  of  the  day's 
work.  He  was  in  his  place  early  and  late,  his  so- 
called  "  dinner  hour  "  sometimes  not  exceeding  thirty 
minutes.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  him  at 
his  post  between  two  and  three  in  the  morning  after 
a  turbulent  night.  Towards  the  close  of  the  Session 
of  1880  he  broke  down.  The  illness,  which  took  the 
form  of  fever  with  congestion  of  the  lung,  was  serious 
enough  to  profoundly  alarm  the  nation.  Downing 
Street  was  crowded  with  anxious  callers.  But  he 
pulled  through,  and  after  a  trip  round  the  coast  in 
the  Grantully  Castle,  he  returned  to  the  House,  and 
received  from  both  sides  an  ovation  which  for  the 
moment  stilled  party  acrimony.  In  the  next  Session 
he  appeared  for  a  while  wearing  a  black  skull-cap 
covering  the  marks  of  a  nasty  accident  that  befell 
him  in  stepping  out  of  his  carriage  on  a  dark  night. 
But  nothing  daunted  his  energy,  the  only  signs  of 
physical  weakness  and  mental  weariness  being  occa- 
sional  outbursts  of   anger  when  affronted  by  such 


GATHERING   CLOUDS.  173 

persons  as  Mr.   Warton,  or  threatened  by  some  irre- 
pressible follower  below  the  gangway. 

In  ^lay,  1885,  affairs  were  evidently  approaching 
a  crisis.  Soon  after  Parliament  had  reassembled, 
votes  of  censure  on  the  Government  were  impartially 
moved  from  the  regular  Opposition  and  by  a  distin- 
guished Liberal.  Sir  Stafford  Northcote  censured 
the  Government  for  their  policy  in  the  Soudan. 
After  an  exciting  division  it  appeared  that  the  Gov- 
ernment majority  had  been  reduced  to  14.  Mr. 
John  Morley's  vote  of  censure  protested  against  the 
employment  of  forces  of  the  Crown  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  power  of  the  Mahdi.  The  Conservatives  rally- 
ing with  Ministers  on  this  issue,  the  amendment  was 
negatived  by  a  rattling  majority.  But  of  the  112 
who  went  into  the  lobby  with  Mr.  Morley,  the  major- 
ity were  habitual  supporters  of  the  Government. 
In  addition  to  these  troubles  at  home,  there  was  the 
peril  of  the  Penjdeh  incident,  described  in  an  earlier 
chapter.  A  vote  of  credit  for  eleven  millions  had 
been  passed.  The  extreme  course  of  calling  out  the 
reserves  had  been  approved.  The  air  was  full  of 
electricity.  At  any  moment  the  country  might  be 
engaged  in  a  Titanic  war. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE   STORM    BURSTS. 

Nearer  than  from  the  Radical  camp  below  the  gang- 
way was  heard  the  voice  of  candid  friends  remonstrat- 
ing with  the  harried  Premier.  The  Irish  Coercion 
Bill  was  approaching  expiry.  It  was  understood 
that  the  question  of  renewing  some  of  its  clauses  had 
been  long  fought  in  the  Cabinet.  Mr.  Chamberlain 
and  Sir  Charles  Dilke  (who,  on  the  retirement  of 
Mr.  Bright,  had  entered  the  Cabinet  as  President  of 
the  Local  Government  Board)  were  understood  to 
be  resolute  in  their  opposition  to  further  coercion. 
They  looked  for  a  cure  for  the  ills  of  Ireland,  not 
in  coercion,  but  in  an  extension  of  local  government. 
They  were  Home  Rulers  at  a  time  when  Mr.  Glad- 
stone still  held  back.  Mr.  John  Morley  gave  notice 
that  when  proposal  was  made  to  renew  any  sec- 
tion of  the  Coercion  Bill  he  should  oppose  it.  Mr. 
Morley's  intimate  relations  at  this  time  with  Mr. 
Chamberlain  gave  the  step  ominous  significance. 

A  note  made  on  the  15th  of  May  (1885)  indicates 
the  state  of  things  at  this  moment  as  it  appeared  to 
an  observer  of  the  scene  :  — 

There  is  more  in  Mr.  John  IVIorley's  notice  of  amendment  to 
the  proposed  introduction  of  a  Crimes  Bill  than  meets  the  eye. 
The  fact  is,  the  Government  is  at  the  present  moment  on  the 


THE   STORM  BURSTS.  175 

eve  of  dissolution.  Tt  is  not  Russia  nor  En;ypt,  but  Ireland. 
The  opposition  ^Ir.  Chamberlain  and  Sir  Charles  Dilke  have 
always  offered  to  attempts  to  govern  Ireland  by  coercion  has  not 
been  smoothed  down  by  the  fact  of  their  taking  oflice.  They 
have,  I  believe,  steadfastly  fought  against  the  determination  of 
the  majority  of  the  Cabinet  partially  to  renew  the  Crimes  Act. 
They  were  beaten ;  and  the  announcement  by  Mr.  Gladstone  of 
the  introduction  of  a  Bill  not  being  followed  by  their  immediate 
resignation,  it  was  generally  supposed  that  a  compromise  had  been 
effected  and  the  cloud  blown  over.  This  assumption  was  appar- 
ently confirmed  by  the  announcement  made  by  Mr.  Gladstone 
on  Tuesday  that  the  Government  are,  after  all,  determined  to 
deal  this  Session  with  the  Purchase  Clauses  of  the  Land  Act. 
That  step  has,  however,  rather  had  the  effect  of  hastening  the 
crisis  than  of  smoothing  it  over.  Neither  Mr.  Chamberlain  nor 
Sir  Charles  Dilke  objects  to  a  measure  dealing  with  land  pur- 
chase. What  they  do  object  to  is  that  it  should  be  introduced 
at  the  present  crisis.  Their  watchword  is,  "  Local  Government 
for  Ireland  and  no  Coercion."  If  you  have  coercion  and  no 
extension  of  local  government,  that  is  a  state  of  things  not  com- 
pensated for  by  the  introduction  of  a  Bill  dealing  with  the  Pur- 
chase Clauses.  Indeed,  I  believe  they  take  the  view  that  the 
introduction  of  such  a  Bill  would  be  harmful  rather  than  other- 
wise. It  would  be  an  appropriate  sequel  to  the  extension  of  local 
government.  To  give  it  priority  is,  in  their  opinion,  dangerous. 
If  Ireland  is  to  pledge  its  bond  for  money  assistance,  it  had  evi- 
dently better  be  done  upon  the  credit  of  local  governing  bodies 
than  under  the  supervision  of  an  Imperial  Government  harassed 
on  many  sides. 

It  is  possible  that  what  looks  like  an  already  broken  bridge 
may  be  mended,  and  crisis  avoided.  That  will  depend  upon 
the  squeezability  of  the  Whig  portion  of  the  Cabinet.  The 
Radical  section  have  resolutely  made  up  their  minds  that  the 
fullest  extent  to  which  they  can  conscientiously  go  to  meet  the 
views  of  Earl  Spencer  is  that  the  Crimes  Act,  if  renewed,  shall 
run  for  one  year  only.  This  would  leave  the  matter  to  be  dealt 
with  by  the  new  Parliament,  evidently  a  desirable  thing.  Fail- 
ing concession  on  this  point,  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  Sir  Charles 
Dilke,  with  whatever  profound  regret  at  taking  a  step  that 
must  be  embarrassing  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  will  resign  their  places 


176  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

in  the  Government.  They  will  be  followed  out  of  the  Cabinet, 
certainly  by  Mr.  Shaw-Lefevre,  and  possibly  by  one  or  two 
others.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how,  with  such  powerful  forces 
below  the  gangway,  a  reconstructed  Government  will  be  able  to 
carry  the  Crimes  Bill. 

This  state  of  affairs,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  weighs 
heavily  upon  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  is  still  struggling  to  effect 
an  honorable  settlement  with  Russia. 

Here  is  another  peep  at  the  House  of  Commons  on 
the  eve  of  catastrophe,  the  approach  to  which  it  will 
be  perceived  was  vaguely,  but  surely  felt.  The  note, 
made  in  the  House  of  Commons,  is  dated  Friday 
night,  5th  of  June  :  — 

It  was  pitiful  to  note  to-night  the  manner  in  which,  when 
public  business  commenced,  all  eyes  were  turned  towards  the 
Treasury  Bench.  The  Cabinet  Council  which  it  was  (quite  er- 
roneously) thought  would  settle  the  jNlinisterial  crisis  had  been 
held.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  in  his  place,  looking  pale  and  worried 
with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  upon  which  he  now  and  then  turned  a 
troubled  glance.  He  does  not  bring  down  manuscript  to  the 
Treasury  Bench  unless  it  contains  notes  for  some  portentous 
announcement.  What  this  might  be  members  could  only  guess, 
and  all  Kuessed  the  same  thing.  Sir  William  Harcourt  sat  next 
to  the  Premier,  even  his  massive  head  bent  under  the  pressure  of 
a  Ministerial  crisis.  Beyond  was  Lord  Hartington,  an  interesting 
convalescent  who  every  one  was  glad  to  see  had  recovered  his  robust 
health.  Presentlv  ISIr.  Childers  came  in.  But  that  was  all.  Sir 
Charles  Dilke,  usually  most  punctual  in  his  attendance,  was  absent, 
and  so  was  Mr.  Chamberlain.  What  had  happened  was  clear  to 
the  meanest  comprehension.  The  crisis  had  hurst  ;  INIr.  Chamber- 
lain and  Sir  Charles  Dilke  had  resigned,  and  the  sheet  of  note- 
paper  with  which  Mr.  Gladstone  nervously  toyed  contained  the 
terms  in  which  he  would,  in  due  course,  announce  the  fact  to  the 
House. 

Five  minutes  later  Sir  Charles  Dilke  bustled  in  and  took  a  seat 
near  the  Home  Secretary.  Evidently  there  was  somewhere  a  flaw 
in  the  course  of  conjecture,  which  was  finally  shattered  by  the  ap- 


THE   STORM  BURSTS.  177 

pearance  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  with  a  white  orchid — symbol  of 
peace  —  in  his  buttonhole.  The  Ministry  were  for  the  moment 
safe.  But  the  crisis  was  postponed,  not  averted  —  a  turn  of  affairs 
which  rather  deepened  the  feeling  of  discontent  and  depression. 
If  anything  was  to  happen,  in  Heaven's  name  let  it  happen  at  once 
and  make  an  end  of  this  indefinite  dragging  on  through  the  slough 
of  uncertainty. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  rising  at  eleven  o'clock  to-night  in  a  moder- 
ately filled  House,  delivered  a  remarkable  and  interesting  speech. 
Looking  at  him  as  he  stood  at  the  table  with  a  certain  ashen-gray 
tinge  on  his  face,  and  a  distinct  lassitude  in  his  manner,  it  might 
well  be  thought  that  here  was  a  man  weary  to  death  of  incessant 
labor,  gasping  for  the  holiday  near  at  hand.  This  view  was 
strengthened  by  the  tone  in  which  he  spoke.  The  magnificent 
voice  for  fifty  years  familiar  in  the  House  of  Commons,  which  not 
many  vears  ago  resounded  over  Blackheath,  and  which  sounded 
like  a  clarion  through  Midlothian,  is  broken.  I  believe  that  dur- 
ing his  last  visit  to  Midlothian  he  overstrained  it,  and  though  the 
failure  was  at  the  time  regarded  as  temporary,  there  appears 
now  no  doubt  of  its  permanency.  But  though  the  Premier  seemed 
almost  in  the  last  stage  of  physical  exhaustion,  and  his  voice  was 
husky,  and  sometimes  did  not  rise  above  a  whisper,  there  was  no 
sign  of  failing  power  in  the  skill  and  force  with  which  he  met  the 
battery  arrayed  against  him,  for  some  hours  blazing  away  at 
every  point  of  JNIinisterial  policy.  The  sentences  were  as  perfect 
in  their  construction  as  ever,  the  play  of  fancy  as  free,  and  the 
sarcasm  as  keen  as  in  his  best  days. 

That  was  the  last  time  this  Parliament  of  the 
Queen  adjourned  with  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  position 
of  Leader.  On  the  following  Monday  the  House 
resumed  debate  on  the  second  reading  of  the  Customs 
and  Inland  Revenue  Bill,  embodying  Mr.  Childers' 
Budget  proposals.  Sir  Michael  Hicks  Beach  sub- 
mitted an  amendment  condemning  the  increase  of  the 
beer  and  spirit  duties,  and  the  failure  to  give  relief 
to  local  taxation.     The  appearance  of  the  House  dur- 

12 


178  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

ing  the  greater  part  of  the  sitting  did  not  indicate 
approach  to  a  memorable  event.  Sir  Michael  Beach, 
Mr.  Childers,  and  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  upon 
whom  the  burden  of  debate  at  this  time  chiefly  fell, 
were  not  able  to  overcome  the  depression  that  had 
fallen  upon  the  assembly. 

It  was  ten  minutes  to  one  in  the  morning  of  the  9th 
of  June  when  Mr.  Gladstone  rose  to  continue  the 
debate.  He  was  in  fine  form,  and  in  the  excitement 
of  the  hour  had  overcome  the  huskiness  of  voice  that 
still  beset  him.  It  was  half-past  one  when  he  re- 
sumed his  seat,  and  the  division  was  forthwith  called. 
As  members  streamed  out  to  vote,  few,  if  any,  fore- 
casted the  result.  The  Government,  often  threat- 
ened, would  come  out  with  a  reduced  majority,  but 
sufficient  to  avert  defeat.  Mr.  Gladstone,  having 
made  an  end  of  speaking,  sat  for  a  moment  with 
flushed  face  and  folded  arms,  evidently  thinking 
w^ith  hot  resentment  of  "the  regular  Opposition," 
"the  loyal  Opposition,"  "the  national  Opposition," 
"the  patriotic  Opposition,"  "the  constitutional  Oppo- 
sition," he  had  a  moment  earlier,  with  ringing  voice 
and  sweeping  gestures,  denounced.  Then  he  sud- 
denly bethought  him  of  his  duty  to  the  Queen,  which 
involved  the  writing  of  a  letter  summarizing  the 
proceedings  of  the  night.  Picking  up  paper  and 
writing-pad  he  made  his  way  as  quickly  as  possible 
through  the  throng  into  the  lobby.  The  division 
would  occupy  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  as 
time  was  precious  he  would  improve  the  opportunity 


THE   STORM  BURSTS.  179 

while  it  presented  itself.  When  he  came  back  he 
opened  the  writing-pad  on  his  knee  and  went  on 
with  the  letter,  undisturbed  by  the  stream  of  mem- 
bers constantly  passing  him  on  the  way  to  their 
places. 

At  a  quarter  to  two  this  morning  (writes  the  eye-witness 
already  quoted  from)  the  inflow  of  members  began  to  fall  off. 
They  had  at  first  rushed  in  like  the  sea.  They  now  trickled  back 
like  a  brook  in  June.  As  the  final  moment  arrived  the  excitement 
grew  in  intensity.  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  was  back,  sitting 
on  the  extreme  edge  of  the  seat,  straining  his  eyes,  first  towards 
one  door,  then  to  the  other,  looking  for  the  teller  who  should 
be  first  in.  Sir  Henry  Wolff  bustled  in  and  out,  bringing  the 
latest  report  of  the  figures.  The  buzz  of  conversation  rose  higher 
and  hi<Ther  ;  and  still,  as  at  another  crisis  jMadame  Defanre  went 
on  knitting,  Mr.  Gladstone  went  on  writing,  "  presenting  his 
humble  duty  to  the  Queen,"  informing  her  how  matters  thus 
far  had  fared. 

Presently  Lord  Kensington,  who  had  been  "telling"  the 
Ministerialists,  made  his  way  with  difficulty  through  the 
crowd  at  the  bar.  Lord  Richard  Grosvenor,  who  was  "  telling  " 
with  the  Opposition,  had  not  yet  arrived.  Here  was  a  portentous 
incident,  the  significance  of  which  could  not  be  misunderstood. 
If  the  Ministerialists  were  through  the  lobby  first,  they  must 
be  the  smaller  number.  But  it  was  remembered  that  the 
Liberals,  even  when  in  a  considerable  majority,  are  often  the 
first  through  the  lobby.     No  one  dared  either  be  sure  or  sad. 

Sir  Henry  Wolff,  who  had  made  another  excursion  to  the 
gates  of  the  Opposition  lobby,  returned  with  radiant  face,  calling 
out  the  numbers  as  he  passed  the  Front  Opposition  Bench,  and 
carrying  the  glad  tidings  to  his  excited  Leader.  Then  Lord 
Randolph  gave  vent  to  his  feelings  in  a  shout  of  delight.  It 
was  taken  up  from  members  near  him,  and  was  echoed  in  the 
Irish  camp  behind.  In  another  minute  all  the  tellers  were  in, 
and  it  was  seen  that  Lord  Richard  Grosvenor,  instead  of  movins: 
to  the  right,  the  place  of  the  victor  in  the  line  of  Whips,  was 
edging  to  the  left. 

Lord  Randolph  Churchill  leapt  on  to  the  bench,  and,  waving 


180  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

his  hat  madly  above  his  head,  uproariously  cheered.  Mr.  Healy 
followed  his  example,  and  presently  all  the  Irish  members, 
and  nearly  all  the  Conservatives  below  the  gangway,  were 
standing  on  the  benches  waving  hats  and  pocket-handkerchiefs, 
clamorously  cheering.  This  was  renewed  when  the  figures  were 
read  out  by  Mr.  Winn,  and  again  when  they  were  proclaimed 
from  the  Chair.  From  the  Irish  camp  rose  cries  of  "  Buck- 
shot! Buckshot !  "  "  Coercion  !  "  These  had  no  relevancy  to  the 
Budget  scheme ;  but  they  showed  that  the  Irish  members  have 
not  forgotten  Mr.  Forster,  and  that  this  was  their  hour  of  victory 
rather  than  the  day  of  the  triumph  of  the  Tories. 

When  the  figures  were  announced,  showing  the  Government 
in  a  minority  of  twelve,  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  threatened  to 
go  mad  with  joy.  He  wrung  the  hand  of  the  impassive  Rowland 
Winn,  who  regarded  him  with  a  kindly  curious  smile,  as  if  he 
were  some  wild  animal.  Mr,  Gladstone  had  resumed  his  letter 
and  went  on  calmly  writing,  whilst  the  Clerk  at  the  table 
proceeded  to  run  through  the  Orders  of  the  Day  as  if  nothing 
particular  had  happened.  But  the  House  was  in  no  mood  for 
business.  Cries  for  the  adjournment  filled  the  House.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  still  holding  his  letter  in  one  hand  and  the  pen  in 
the  other,  quietly  moved  the  adjournment,  and  the  crowd 
surged  through  the  doorway,  the  Conservatives  still  tumultuously 
cheering. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  STOP-GAP  GOVERNMENT. 

At  the  sitting  of  the  House  next  day,  Mr.  Gladstone, 
using  the  phrase  consecrate  to  the  occasion,  stated 
that,  as  a  consequence  of  the  decision  arrived  at  by 
the  House  early  in  the  morning,  the  Cabinet  had 
thought  fit  to  "  submit  a  dutiful  communication  to 
Her  Majesty."  It  would,  he  added,  with  the  gravity 
of  which  on  such  occasions  he  is  a  master,  be  pre- 
mature to  disclose  the  nature  of  that  communication. 
There  was,  indeed,  no  necessity  for  the  confidence. 
Every  one  knew  that  the  Ministry  had  resigned,  and 
every  one  expected  that  Lord  Salisbury  would  be  sent 
for.  These  forecasts  were  realized.  At  first  there 
was  a  hitch.  Lord  Salisbury  accepting  only  condition- 
ally the  duty  imposed  upon  him  by  the  Queen.  He 
frankly  declared  that  before  entering  upon  office  it 
was  indispensable,  in  view  of  the  relative  position  of 
parties  in  the  House  of  Commons,  that  the  Conser- 
vative leaders  should  receive  from  Mr.  Gladstone  a 
pledge  to  support  them  in  measures  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  bring  the  Session  to  a  close. 

The  two  points  specified  by  Lord  Salisbury  in  the 
correspondence  that  followed  were  the  undisputed 
right  of  the  Government  to  take  precedence  for  their 


182  MR.   GLADSTONE, 

business  whenever  Supply  or  the  Appropriation  Bill 
was  put  down.  Secondly,  he  claimed  authority  to 
issue  Exchequer  Bonds  for  the  requirements  of  the 
Estimates  if  no  other  provision  was  made.  His  com- 
munication was  addressed  to  the  Queen,  and  by  her 
sent  on  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  with  request  for  prompt 
reply.  The  delicate  negotiation  was  prolonged  and 
embarrassed  by  the  circumstance  that  the  grave  Minis- 
terial crisis  was  not  permitted  to  interrupt  the  Queen's 
holiday,  which,  enjoyed  at  Balmoral,  necessitated 
much  journeying  to  and  fro,  not  only  of  Queen's 
messengers,  but  of  Ministers-elect.  Mr.  Gladstone 
finally  answered  that  he  had  consulted  his  colleagues 
on  the  matter,  and  they  were  agreed  it  would  be  con- 
trary to  their  public  duty  to  compromise  their  liberty 
by  giving  the  specific  pledges  Lord  Salisbury  de- 
manded. At  the  same  time  he  assured  the  Queen 
that  "  in  the  conduct  of  the  necessary  business  of  the 
country  during  the  remainder  of  the  Session,  there 
would  be  no  disposition  to  embarrass  the  Government 
serving  your  Majesty." 

With  this  assurance  Lord  Salisbury  had  to  be  con- 
tent, and  forthwith  set  about  constructing  his  Ministry. 
Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
done  more  than  any  other  member  of  the  Opposition 
to  oust  Mr.  Gladstone,  came  to  the  front.  What  he 
had  irreverently  termed  "  the  old  gang  "  did  not  love 
him.  The  section  of  the  party  which,  without  in- 
vidious distinction,  may  be  described  as  being  elderly 
and  respectable,  shook  their  heads  and  protested  that 


THE  STOP-GAP  GOVERNMENT.  183 

they  would  not  follow  the  young  man,  —  a  feeling  of 
repulsion  in  which  they  certainly  had  the  sympathy 
of  Lord  Salisbury.  But  the  Young  Man  won  all 
along  the  line.  As  Mr.  Chamberlain  put  it  in  a  con- 
temporary speech, "  Goliath  hath  succumbed  to  David, 
and  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  has  his  foot  on  Lord 
Salisbury's  neck."  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  a  man 
whose  great  Parliamentary  capacity  was  obscured  by  a 
retiring  disposition,  was  shelved  in  the  recesses  of  the 
House  of  Lords.  He  was  named  Earl  of  Iddesleigh, 
and  endowed  with  the  high-sounding  but  harmless 
office  of  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  As  a  compro- 
mise. Lord  Randolph  had  to  accept  Sir  Richard 
Cross  at  the  Home  Office,  Mr.  W.  H.  Smith  as  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  War,  and  Lord  George  Hamilton  as 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty.  He  himself  became 
Secretary  of  State  for  India,  providing  for  Mr.  Gorst 
with  the  Solicitor-Generalship  and  its  attendant 
knighthood,  and  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour  as  President 
of  the  Local  Government  Board,  whilst  Sir  Henrv 
Wolff  was  assured  of  entrance  upon  a  diplomatic 
career  that  finally  landed  him  Her  Majesty's  Minister 
at  Madrid.  Sir  Michael  Hicks  Beach  undertook  the 
Chancellorship  of  the  Exchequer,  with  the  Leadership 
of  the  House. 

A  most  significant  appointment  was  that  of  Lord 
Carnarvon  to  the  Lord  Lieutenancy  of  Ireland.  It 
was  reported  when  the  office  was  accepted  that  Lord 
Carnarvon  had  specifically  stipulated  that  an  attempt 
should  be   made   to   rule   Ireland   without   coercion. 


184  MR.   GLADSTONE, 

This  rumor  was  confirmed  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment,  when,  on  the  reassembling  of  Parliament 
after  the  re-election  of  the  new  Ministers,  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  informed  the  House  of  Lords  that  it  was 
not  intended  to  reintroduce  the  Crimes  Act  for 
Ireland. 

It  was  recognized  on  both  sides  that  the  whole  duty 
of  the  new  Government  was  to  wind  up  the  business 
of  the  Session,  dissolve  Parliament,  and  appeal  to  the 
country. 

Speaking  at  the  Cobden  Club  dinner  on  the  Satur- 
day immediately  following  the  defeat  of  the  Govern- 
ment, Mr.  Chamberlain  described  the  situation  with 
an  incisiveness  and  lucidity  that  never  vary  with 
change  of  political  attitude  :  "  Lord  Salisbury  and  the 
Tory  party,"  he  said,  "  must  lie  on  the  bed  they  have 
made  for  themselves.  They  cannot  evade  their  re- 
sponsibilities. No  doubt  their  situation  is  a  very 
difficult  one ;  but  they  should  have  thought  of  that 
before.  No  doubt  they  find  themselves  now  face  to 
face  with  many  inconvenient  declarations.  There  are 
statements  which  we  have  been  taught  to  describe  as 
'  commercial  illustrations '  which  will  now  have  to  be 
explained  away.  There  are  pledges  which  have  been 
given,  and  the  party,  as  a  whole,  are  committed,  if 
words  mean  anything,  to  an  entire  reversal  of  almost 
the  whole  of  the  policy  of  the  last  few  years.  But, 
gentlemen,  we  are  not  alarmed.  Those  pledges  were 
not  made  to  be  kept.  Tlicy  have  served  their  purpose, 
and  I   look   forward  with   interest  to  the  spectacle, 


THE   STOP-GAP   GOVERNMENT.  185 

which  I  believe  will  shortly  be  presented,  of  a  great 
party  with  indecent  expedition  hastening  to  divest 
itself  of  a  whole  wardrobe  of  pledges  and  professions 
which  it  has  accumulated  during  the  past  few  years, 
stripping  off  every  rag  of  consistency,  and  standing 
up  naked  and  not  ashamed,  in  order  that  it  may 
squeeze  itself  into  office.  That  is  the  position,  gentle- 
men. It  is  only  upon  these  terms  that  what  Avill  be 
known  in  liistory  as  the  Stop-gap  Government  can 
invite  the  toleration  of  its  opponents.  They  must  not 
undo  our  work.  They  must  not  jeopardize  the  results 
already  accomplished.  They  must  continue  on  the 
main  lines  of  the  policy  they  have  so  often  and  so 
vehemently  condemned.  But  if  they  are  willing  to  do 
that,  for  my  part  I  see  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
remain  as  caretakers  on  the  premises  until  the  new 
tenants  are  ready,  in  November,  for  a  prolonged,  and, 
I  hope,  permanent,  occupation." 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Sir  Michael  Beach  to  provide  a 
Budget  in  lieu  of  the  one  upon  which  the  late  Ministry 
had  been  overthrown.  This  task  he  accomplished  in 
a  charmingly  simple  manner.  By  the  vote  of  the  8th 
of  June  the  House  of  Commons  had  decided  against 
the  proposal  of  Mr.  Childers  to  increase  the  beer  and 
spirit  duties.  The  existing  arrangement  under  this 
head  would  accordingly  be  left  undisturbed.  But  the 
whole  of  the  other  proposals  of  the  Budget  on  which 
the  late  Government  had  been  dethroned  would  be 
adopted  by  their  successors.  The  non-increase  of  the 
beer  and  spirit  duties  would  leave  a  deficit  of  four 


186  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

millions,  which  he  proposed  to  meet  by  the  elementary 
device  of  issuing  exchequer  bills. 

On  the  14th  of  August  Parliament  was  prorogued, 
and  on  the  18th  of  November  it  was  dissolved. 

The  interval  was  a  busy  one  for  politicians.  Mr. 
Chamberlain  came  prominently  to  the  front,  delivering 
a  series  of  stirring  speeches  at  Holloway,  Hackney, 
Hull,  Warrington,  Glasgow,  Bradford,  and  other  great 
centres  of  population.  Knowing  nothing  of  the  brink 
on  which  he  stood,  unsuspecting  the  astounding  trans- 
formation scene  silently  preparing,  he  at  this  epoch 
out-rouged  all  Radicals.  He  propounded  what  was 
known  as  "  the  unauthorized  programme,"  travelling 
along  Radical  lines  far  beyond  the  point  of  junction 
at  which  Mr.  Gladstone,  impelled  by  pressure  from 
below  the  gangway,  had  yet  been  able  to  fix  it.  None 
were  more  alarmed  than  a  section  of  his  former 
colleagues.  "  The  Salvation  Army  in  Politics,"  Mr. 
Goschen  described  the  enthusiastic  band  that  followed 
the  member  for  Birmingham.  Mr.  Chamberlain,  for 
his  part,  w^as  not  less  bitter  in  denunciation  of 
Moderate  Liberals  than  he  was  of  Conservatives. 
With  eye  plainly  fixed  on  Lord  Hartington  and  Mr. 
Goschen,  he,  speaking  at  Warrington  on  the  8th  of 
September,  uttered  the  warning  that  '^  if  the  Moderate 
Liberals  joined  the  Tories  they  would  be  going  out  of 
the  frying-pan  into  the  fire  "  —  a  curious  reflection 
from  so  high  authority  to  come  upon  in  the  last 
decade  of  the  century.  "  It  is  perfectly  futile  and 
ridiculous,"  he  in  this  same  speech  protested,  "  for 


THE  STOP-GAP   GOVERNMENT.  187 

any  political  Rip  Van  Winkle  to  come  down  from  the 
mountain  on  wliicli  he  has  been  slumbering  and  tell 
us  that  these  things  [enumerated  in  the  Unauthorized 
Draft]  are  to  be  excluded  from  the  Liberal  Pro- 
gramme. The  world  has  moved  on  while  these 
dreamers  have  been  sleeping,  and  it  would  be  absurd 
to  ignore  the  growth  of  public  opinion  and  the  change 
in  the  situation  the  Reform  Acts  have  produced." 

On  the  9th  of  November  Mr.  Gladstone  left  Hawar- 
den  on  his  new  Midlothian  Campaign,  his  journey 
northward  being,  as  before,  a  triumphal  progress. 
At  all  the  large  towns  multitudes  thronged  round  the 
carriage  and  were  addressed  in  vehement,  vigorous 
speeches. 

The  Parnellites,  having  made  it  possible  for  the 
Conservatives  to  turn  Mr.  Gladstone  out  of  office,  loyally 
maintained  the  alliance  at  the  general  election.  They 
were  not  without  hope  that  they  would  obtain  from 
a  Tory  Government  that  Home  Rule  on  which  their 
hearts  were  set  and  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had  hitherto 
refused.  Lord  Carnarvon  had  made  haste  to  announce 
that  the  Coercion  Bill  would  not  be  renewed.  Later, 
on  the  eve  of  the  sreneral  election,  Mr.  Parnell  had 
referred  to  the  position  of  Austria  and  Hungary  as 
suggesting  a  possible  basis  of  settlement  of  the  Irish 
difficulty.  Speaking  at  Newport  on  October  7th,  Lord 
Salisbury  jumped  at  this  suggestion.  He  was  bound  to 
say  that  he  had  never  seen  any  plan  or  suggestion  that 
would  at  present  give  him  the  slightest  ground  for 
anticipating  that  in  that  direction  would  be  found  satis- 


188  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

factory  solution  of  the  Irish  problem.  "  But,"  he 
added,  "  I  wish  that  it  may  be  so." 

These  things  were  on  the  surface.  Much  else  was 
going  on  by  subterranean  passages,  sufficient  at  all 
events  to  induce  the  Irish  party  to  enlist  their  unrivalled 
electoral  skill  and  activity  in  the  service  of  Tory  can- 
didates wlierever  they  stood.  The  poll,  under  the  Re- 
form Act,  completed  just  before  the  change  of  Ministry, 
was  taken  upon  a  register  which  for  the  first  time  in- 
cluded the  whole  body  of  the  householders  and  lodgers 
of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  lowering  of  the  franchise 
in  the  boroughs,  bringing  on  to  the  Register  large 
batches  of  Irish  voters,  was  an  immense  assistance  to  the 
Constitutional  party.  Nevertheless,  when  the  figures 
were  finally  adjusted  it  was  found  that  the  House  of 
Commons  was  to  the  extent  of  exactly  one  half  com- 
posed of  Liberals,  who  numbered  335  against  249  Tories 
and  86  Parnellites.  The  counties  had  readjusted  the 
balance  of  the  boroughs,  the  newly  enfranchised  rustic 
voter  supporting  the  hands  that  had  emancipated 
him. 

Everything  now  plainly  turned  upon  the  attitude  of 
the  Irish  members.  Tlicy  were  masters  of  the  situa- 
tion and  their  price  was  well  known.  That  Lord 
Salisbury  and  his  colleagues  were  considering  whether 
it  was  worth  what  it  would  bring  appeared  from  the 
fact  that,  contrary  to  custom  established  in  1868  and 
observed  in  1874  and  1880,  Ministers,  having  suffered 
at  the  polls  a  heavy  defeat  on  strictly  party  lines,  did 
not  forthwith  resign.     Parliament  need  not  meet  just 


THE  STOP-GAP   GOVERNMENT.  189 

yet,  and  in  the  mean  time  a  great  deal  might  happen. 
One  thing  that  happened  was  a  meeting  between  Lord 
Carnarvon  and  Mr.  Parnell,  brought  about  at  the 
invitation  of  the  Conservative  Lord  Lieutenant,  at 
which  a  Home  Rule  scheme  was  frankly  discussed 
with  friendliest  attitude  on  the  part  of  Lord  Salisbury's 
colleague.  When,  some  months  later,  the  secret  of 
this  conference  oozed  out,  it  was  affirmed  on  behalf  of 
Lord  Salisbury  and  his  colleagues  in  the  Cabinet  that 
in  this  matter  Lord  Carnarvon  had  acted  entirely  on 
his  own  initiative,  without  authority  from  tlie  Cabinet, 
an  unusual  proceeding  on  the  part  of  a  cautious  and 
experienced  statesman,  and  a  very  dangerous  precedent 
to  create. 

The  first  Session  of  the  new  Parliament  opened  on 
the  12th  of  January  (1886),  the  Queen  lending  to  the 
desperate  Ministry  the  rare  support  of  her  presence 
at  the  opening  ceremony.  The  Speech  from  the 
Throne  confirmed  the  impression  which  had  over- 
mastered earlier  suspicion,  that  Lord  Salisbury's 
Government  had  finally  abandoned  all  idea  of  main- 
taining alliance  with  the  Parnellites  on  the  peremp- 
tory terms  of  their  bringing  in  a  Home  Rule  Bill. 
The  benevolent  attitude  displayed  by  Lord  Salisbury 
at  Newport  was  changed,  the  Speech  containing 
ominous  announcement  that  "if  the  existing  pro- 
visions of  the  Law  prove  inadequate  to  cope  with 
the  growing  evils  of  organized  intimidation,  I^arlia- 
ment  will  be  asked  to  grant  further  powers  to  the 
executive. " 


190  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

This  settled  the  matter.  The  support  of  the  Irish 
members  withdrawn,  the  Government  was  doomed, 
and  there  remained  only  the  question  of  the  precise 
spot  on  which  they  should  fall.  The  Government 
manoeuvred  to  go  out  upon  a  division  on  the  Irish 
Question,  when  they  would  have  the  advantage  of 
dying  gloriously  in  defence  of  the  Union.  Fate  was 
against  them,  they  being  driven  out  of  office  upon  an 
unromantic  side  issue.  Amongst  the  amendments 
to  the  Address  was  one  moved  by  Mr.  Jesse  Ceilings, 
regretting  that  the  Queen's  Speech  contained  no 
promise  of  legislation  in  the  matter  of  small  allot- 
ments for  agricultural  laborers.  This  amendment 
was  carried  by  329  votes  to  250,  and  the  Stop-gap 
Government,  having  achieved  its  mission,  disappeared 
from  the  scene. 


CHAPTER  XXIL 

HOME  RULE. 

In  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Gladstone  to  his  friend 
Bishop  Wilberforce,  dated  1865,  there  occurs  this 
remarkable  passage:  "There  have  been  two  great 
deaths,  or  transmigrations  of  spirit,  in  my  political 
existence,  —  one  very  slow,  the  breaking  of  ties  with 
my  original  party ;  the  other,  very  short  and  sharp, 
the  breaking  of  the  tie  with  Oxford.  There  will 
probably  be  a  third  and  no  more."  It  is  not  possible 
that  at  this  period  Mr.  Gladstone  had  in  his  mind 
the  great  disruption  of  1886.  Yet  that  event  pre- 
cisely fulfils  the  forecast. 

It  has  been  made  a  charge  against  Mr.  Gladstone 
that  through  political  exigencies  and  from  lust  of 
power  he  made  a  sudden  turn-about-face  on  the  Home 
Rule  Question.  That  is  a  charge  from  which  Lord 
Hartington  at  an  early  stage  of  the  bitter  contro- 
versy generously  relieved  him.  Speaking  at  the 
Eighty  Club  dinner  on  the  5th  of  March,  1886,  Lord 
Hartington  said :  "  I  tliink  no  one  who  has  read  or 
heard  during  a  long  series  of  years  the  declarations 
of  Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  question  of  self-government 
in  Ireland  can  be  surprised  at  the  tone  of  his  present 
declaration.     Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  himself  an 


192  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

attentive  student  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  speeches,  can 
find  no  later  date  than  1871  in  which  Mr.  Gladstone 
has  spoken  strongly  against  the  demands  of  the  Irish 
people  for  greater  self-government.  Well,  when  I 
look  back  to  those  declarations  Mr.  Gladstone  made 
in  his  place  in  Parliament,  which  have  not  been 
infrequent,  when  I  look  to  the  increased  definiteness 
given  to  those  declarations  in  his  address  to  the  elec- 
tors of  Midlothian  and  in  his  Midlothian  speeches, 
when  I  look  to  the  announcements  which,  however 
unauthorized  and  inaccurate,  have  never  been  asserted 
to  be,  and  could  not  have  been,  mere  figments  of  the 
imagination,  but  expressed  more  or  less  accurately 
not  the  conclusions  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had  formed, 
but  the  ideas  he  was  considering  in  his  own  mind,  — 
I  say,  when  I  consider  all  these  things,  I  feel  that  I 
have  not,  and  that  no  one  else  has,  any  right  what- 
ever to  complain  of  the  tone  of  the  declarations 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  has  recently  made  on  this 
subject." 

This  passage  accurately  deals  with  dates  and  occa- 
sions. Speaking  at  Manchester  in  the  same  year, 
Mr.  Gladstone  precisely  described  his  position  ante- 
cedent to  the  date  of  his  third  Administration. 
"Since  1871,"  he  said,  "when  Home  Rule  came  up 
above  the  surface,  and  long  before  it  was  at  the 
front,  1  never  once  on  any  occasion  have  in  principle 
condemned  it.  I  have  required  to  know  its  mean- 
ing. I  have  required  to  see  that  it  was  asked  and 
sought   for   by  the   bulk  of  the  Irish  nation.     But 


HOME  RULE.  193 

never   in  its  principle   has   it  been  condemned  by 


me." 


Turning  over  the  mighty  volumes  of  his  recorded 
speeches,  Mr.  Gladstone  remembered  six  upon  which, 
since  the  Home  Rule  Question  became  one  of  prac- 
tical politics,  he  had  adverted  to  it.  Three  were 
delivered  on  public  platforms  —  at  Aberdeen  in 
1872,  in  Midlothian  1879-80,  and  in  Guildhall  1881. 
More  important  were  three  made  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  first  in  1872  when,  as  Prime  Min- 
ister, he  was  called  upon  to  reply  to  Mr.  Butt's  reso- 
lution affirming  Home  Rule  principles;  the  second 
in  1874,  when  he  spoke  as  Leader  of  the  Opposition; 
the  third  in  1880,  "when,"  as  he  with  curious  punc- 
tiliousness puts  it,  "I  sat  on  these  (the  Opposition 
benches)  as  an  independent  member. "  The  present 
writer  happened  to  hear  the  speech  delivered  in  the 
Honse  of  Commons  in  1872.  After  a  lapse  of  more 
than  twenty  years  there  remains  the  impression  left 
on  the  mind  of  the  hearer  of  the  unusual  tone  of  the 
Prime  Minister's  declarations.  At  that  time  Mr. 
Butt  was  leader  of  a  numerically  small,  personally 
an  insignificant,  party.  Home  Rule  was  a  new  cry, 
and  was  met  with  sometimes  angry,  always  contemp- 
tuous protest,  from  politicians,  whether  Liberal  or 
Conservative.  Mr.  Gladstone,  by  his  speech,  gave 
importance  to  what  was  otherwise  a  flat,  uninterest- 
ing debate.  Differing  from  other  speakers  outside 
the  little  Irish  camp,  he  did  not  utter  a  non-possumus. 
What  he  did  was  to  invite  Mr.  Butt  to  define  Home 

13 


194  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

Rule,  formulate  a  scheme,  submit  it  to  the  House 
and  the  country,  and  thereupon  opinion  might  be 
formed. 

In  February,  1882,  Mr.  P.  J.  Smith  moved  an 
amendment  to  the  Address,  declaring  that  "  the  only 
efficacious  remedy  for  the  deplorable  condition  of 
Ireland  is  a  readjustment  of  the  political  relations 
established  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  by  the 
Act  of  Union."  Mr.  Gladstone  then  made  a  speech 
which  was  an,  perhaps  unconscious,  echo  of  his 
reply  to  Mr.  Butt  ten  years  earlier.  The  process  of 
education  in  Home  Rule  principles  having  in  the 
interval  progressed,  he  indeed  went  a  step  further, 
expressing  himself  favorable  to  the  introduction  of 
Local  Government  in  Ireland,  "rightly  understood," 
he  was  careful  to  add.  But  he  insisted  that  the  pre- 
liminary step  thereto  could  not  be  taken  "  until  the 
Irish  members  had  produced  a  plan  and  set  forth  the 
machinery  by  which  they  meant  to  decide  between 
Imperial  and  local  questions,  and  so  to  give  satisfac- 
tion to  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  upon  the 
first  and  most  paramount  duty  —  namely,  to  main- 
tain the  supremacy  of  the  Imperial  authority  for 
every  practical  purpose  relating  to  the  interests  of 
this  great  Empire. " 

In  this  same  debate  on  the  Address,  speaking  on 
the  16th  of  February,  1882,  Mr.  Gladstone  made  a 
declaration  on  the  Home  Rule  Question,  which  he 
reasonably  relies  upon  to  acquit  him  of  the  charge  of 
becoming  with  suspicious  suddenness  a  convert  to 


HOME  RULE.  195 

Home  Rule.  "I  believe,"  he  said,  "that  when  the 
demand  »is  made  from  Ireland  for  bringing  purely 
Irish  affairs  more  especially  or  more  largely  under 
Irish  control  outside  the  walls  of  Parliament,  the 
wise  way  to  meet  that  demand  is  not  the  method 
adopted  by  the  senior  member  for  the  University  of 
Dublin  (Mr.  Plunket),  who,  if  I  understood  him 
aright,  said  that  anything  recognizing  purely  Irish 
control  over  purely  Irish  affairs  must  necessarily  be 
a  step  towards  separation,  and  must,  therefore,  neces- 
sarily be  fraught  with  danger.  That  I  do  not  believe 
to  be  the  wise  or  the  just  method  of  dealing  with  the 
subject. 

"In  my  opinion  the  wise  and  just  method  of  deal- 
ing with  it  is  this  —  to  require  that  before  any  such 
plan  can  be  dealt  with,  or  can  be  examined  with  a 
view  to  being  dealt  with  on  its  merits,  we  must  ask 
those  who  propose  it  —  and  this  is  a  question  I  have 
universally  put  —  What  are  the  provisions  which  you 
propose  to  make  for  the  Supremacy  of  Parliament  ? 
That  has  been  my  course,  and  that  is  the  course  in 
which  I  intend  to  persevere.  I  am  bound  to  say  that 
I  have  not  yet  received  an  answer.  I  never  heard  in 
the  mouth  of  Mr.  Butt,  or  from  the  mouth  of  any 
other  gentleman,  any  adequate  or  satisfactory  expla- 
nation upon  that  subject.  And  to  this  declaration 
of  my  opinions  I  have  only  one  more  limitation  to 
add,  and  it  is  that  I  am  not  prepared  to  give  to  Ire- 
land anything  which  in  point  of  principle  it  would 
be  wrong  to  give  to  Scotland,  if  Scotland  requires  it; 


196  MR.    GLADSTONE, 

and  that  is  a  condition,  that  is  a  limitation,  which  I 
am  sure  Irish  members  of  the  most  popular  class 
will  be  ready  to  accept." 

The  answer  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  inquiry  as  to  the 
desirability,  even  the  necessity,  of  granting  Home 
Rule  to  Ireland  was  supplied  by  the  issue  of  the  gen- 
eral election  of  December,  1885.  Out  of  103  Irish 
members,  85  were  returned  pledged  to  support  Home 
Rule.  This  was  an  overwhelming  majority,  but  it 
was  exceeded  in  proportion  by  the  respective  charac- 
ter of  the  two  sections.  Nineteen  of  the  Home 
Rulers  had  been  returned  without  a  contest,  —  admis- 
sion of  the  impregnability  of  their  position.  Of  the 
49  who  went  to  the  poll  each  received  an  average  of 
4,329  votes  against  an  average  of  454  polled  for  each 
Conservative  returned. 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  direction  in  which  the 
wind  of  public  opinion  blew.  Mr.  Gladstone,  as 
a  Constitutional  statesman,  accepted  the  mandate. 
His  first  hope  was  that  the  Government  of  Lord 
Salisbury  would  follow  up  the  lines  of  the  Newport 
speech  and  the  amiable  efforts  of  Lord  Carnarvon, 
by  attempting  to  grapple  with  the  question.  As  he 
pointed  out  in  his  address  to  the  electors  of  Mid- 
lothian, issued  in  February,  1886,  "Weak  as  the 
Conservative  Government  was  for  ordinary  purposes, 
it  had  great  advantages  in  dealing  with  the  Irish 
crisis.  A  comprehensive  measure  proceeding  from 
them  would  have  received  warm  and  extensive 
support   from  within  the   Liberal   party.     It  would 


HOME  RULE.  197 

probably  have  closed  the  Irish  Controversy  within 
the  Session  of  188G,  and  have  left  the  Parliament  of 
1885  free  to  prosecute  the  stagnant  work  of  ordinary 
legislation,  with  the  multitude  of  questions  that  it 
included.  My  earnest  hope  was  to  support  the  Cabi- 
net in  such  a  course  of  policy. " 

Happening  to  meet  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  a  fellow- 
guest  at  Eaton  Hall,  Mr.  Gladstone  took  the  oppor- 
tunity of  expressing  the  hope  that  Lord  Salisbury's 
Government,  which  still  hung  on  to  office,  would 
take  a  strong  and  early  decision  on  the  Irish  Ques- 
tion. "If,"  he  said,  "you  bring  in  a  proposal  for 
settling  the  whole  question  of  the  future  Govern- 
ment of  Ireland  my  desire  would  be,  reserving  of 
course  necessary  freedom,  to  treat  it  in  the  same 
spirit  in  which  I  have  endeavored  to  proceed  in 
respect  to  Afghanistan  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula. " 

This  overture  was  declined,  and  Mr.  Gladstone 
discovered  that  if  the  aspirations  of  Ireland  were 
to  be  satisfied  he  must  take  the  field  in  person. 
Already  there  were  disquieting  rumors  of  a  new 
departure.  In  mid-December,  a  newspaper  para- 
graph appeared  purporting  to  give  an  outline  of  the 
Home  Rule  scheme  sanctioned  by  the  Liberal  chief. 
This  Mr.  Gladstone  discreetly  contradicted.  "The 
scheme  "  (which  Mr.  John  Morley  described  as  "the 
guess  of  some  enterprising  newspaper  gentleman  ") 
"  is  not, "  Mr.  Gladstone  averred,  "  an  accurate  repre- 
sentation of  my  views,  but,  as  I  presume,  a  speculation 
upon  them.     It  is  not  published  with  my  knowledge 


198  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

or  authority,  nor  is  any  other  beyond  my  own  public 
declarations." 

A  month  later  Mr.  Gladstone  had  formed  his  Min- 
istry on  the  resignation  of  Lord  Salisl)ury.  It  be- 
came necessary,  when  inviting  colleagues  to  join  him, 
that  the  Premier  should  precisely  state  his  views  on 
the  Home  Rule  Question.  This  statement,  it  soon 
appeared,  was  not  satisfactory  to  Lord  Hartington 
nor  to  Sir  Henry  James.  The  latter  sacrificed 
opportunity  of  succeeding  to  the  splendid  position  of 
Lord  Chancellor  rather  than  join  in  Mr.  Gladstone's 
new  crusade.  It  is  interesting  to  recall  the  fact  that 
neither  Lord  Hartington  nor  Sir  Henry  James  at 
this  time  contemplated  permanent  severance  from  the 
Liberal  party.  Lord  Hartington  spoke  of  the  great 
regret  with  which  he  found  himself  "  for  a  time  sepa- 
rated from,  or  at  any  rate  not  in  complete  harmony 
with,  those  with  whom  I  have  for  so  many  years 
found  my  chief  pride  and  pleasure  in  acting."  "I 
am  not  going  to  take  up  my  abode  in  a  cave,"  Sir 
Henry  James  told  his  constituents.  "The  climate 
of  a  cave  would  not  suit  me. "  With  these  two  excep- 
tions, and  the  temporary  withdrawal  of  Sir  Charles 
Dilke  from  political  life,  the  new  Ministry  was 
formed  principally  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  colleagues  in 
his  former  Administration. 

Contemplating  the  labor  attendant  on  an  attempt 
to  pilot  a  Home  Rule  Bill  through  the  House,  Mr. 
Gladstone  did  not  again  take  up  the  Office  of  Chan- 
cellor of  the   Exchequer,   with  which  some   of  tlic 


HOME   RULE.  199 

most  brilliant  episodes  of  his  career  were  connected. 
Sir  William  Harcourt,  whom  some  prophets  expected 
to  see  on  the  Woolsack,  became  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  Sir  Farrer  Herschell  becoming  Lord 
Chancellor  with  the  title  Lord  Herschell.  Lord 
Roscbery  was  Foreign  Secretary,  Lord  Granville 
caring  for  the  Colonies.  Mr.  Chamberlain  was 
President  of  the  Local  Government  Board,  Mr.  John 
Morley  Chief  Secretary,  Lord  Aberdeen  undertaking 
the  duties  of  Lord  Lieutenant.  ^Ir.  Trevelyan  was 
Secretary  for  Scotland,  Mr.  Heneage  Chancellor  of 
the  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  and  Mr.  Jesse  Ceilings 
Under-Secretary  of  the  Local  Government  Board. 
The  brief  Ministerial  career  of  Mr.  Ceilings  was 
checkered  by  two  circumstances — one  a  squabble 
about  his  salary,  the  other  his  being  unseated  for  acts 
of  bribery  committed  by  his  agent  at  the  Ipswich 
election. 

On  the  3rd  of  February  Mr.  Gladstone  completed 
his  new  Cabinet.  Before  a  month  had  sped  it  was 
evident  that  all  was  not  well  within  its  recesses. 
At  a  Conference  of  the  London  and  Counties  Liberal 
Union  held  on  the  2nd  of  March,  reference  was  made 
to  the  calm  that  appeared  to  prevail  in  political 
circles.  "I  am  not  sure,"  said  Mr.  John  Morley, 
gravely  shaking  his  head,  "that  it  is  not  the  calm  of 
the  glassy  waters  on  the  edge  of  the  bend  of  the 
Niagara."  The  22nd  of  ^larch  was  the  date  origi- 
nally fixed  for  the  introduction  of  Ministerial  meas- 
ures dealing  with   Ireland,    one  treating   the   Land 


200  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

Question,  the  other  Local  Government.  As  the  day 
approached  it  was  postponed  for  a  fortnight.  Before 
that  extension  of  time  was  exhausted  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain and  Mr.  Trevelyan  had  resigned,  being  followed 
by  Lord  Morley  and  Mr.  Heneage.  It  was  made 
known  later  that  Mr.  Chamberlain's  main  objection 
to  Mr.  Gladstone's  programme  centred,  not  on  the 
Home  Rule  Bill,  but  on  the  Land  Bill.  Addressing 
his  constituents  in  Birmingham  on  the  21st  April, 
Mr.  Chamberlain  said  he  "was  afraid  his  opposition 
to  the  Land  Purchase  Bill  could  not  be  met."  His 
still  impregnable  Radicalism  was  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  he  objected  to  the  measure  "because  it 
pledged  the  future  capital  and  earnings  of  the  country 
in  order  to  gratify  Irish  landlords."  His  opposition 
to  the  Home  Rule  Bill  was,  he  added,  conditional, 
and  would  be  withdrawn  if  the  representation  of 
Irish  members  at  Westminster  were  maintained. 

Mr.  Gladstone  patched  up  his  Ministry  and  went 
forward  with  the  task  he  had  taken  in  hand.  On 
the  8th  April,  in  a  densely  crowded  and  profoundly 
oxcited  House,  he  explained  the  clauses  of  his  Home 
Rule  Bill.  For  three  hours  and  a  half  he  spoke, 
with  unfailing  vigor  and  with  a  hicidity  that  made 
clear  to  the  listening  throng  all  the  intricacies  of  his 
scheme.  The  main  proposal  was  that  a  body  seated 
in  Dul)lin  should  have  control  of  the  Executive  Gov- 
ernment in  Ireland  and  of  its  legislative  business. 
The  Parliament  was  to  consist  of  two  representative 
chnml)ers,  an  Upper  and  a  Lower  House.     The  latter 


HOME  RULE.  201 

would  be  built  upon  the  nucleus  of  the  103  members 
then  sitting  at  Westminster  as  representatives  of 
Ireland.  Those  present  during  the  delivery  of  the 
speech  will  not  forget  that  no  proposal  of  the  Bill 
was  received  with  such  hearty  and  general  cheering. 
Before  a  week  had  passed  it  was  selected  as  the 
clause  upon  which  the  fullest  measure  of  opposition 
should  be  concentrated.  Five  days  later  the  Irish 
Land  Purchase  Bill  was  introduced  with  the  effect 
of  further  alienating  friends  and  strengthening  foes. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  June  the  House 
divided  on  the  second  reading  of  the  Home  Rule 
Bill,  which,  amid  a  scene  of  wild  excitement,  was 
rejected  by  a  majority  of  thirty  in  a  House  of  652 
members. 

The  Cabinet  decided  on  an  immediate  dissolution 
and  the  reference  of  the  issue  to  the  constituencies. 
It  was  a  big  undertaking,  for,  as  things  had  now  got 
mixed,  it  would  be  necessary  for  Mr.  Gladstone  to 
gain  in  Great  Britain  not  less  than  108  seats  in  order 
to  retain  office.  He  had  to  fight  not  only  against  the 
regular  Conservative  Opposition,  but  against  a  sec- 
tion of  the  old  Liberal  party,  respectable  in  its  num- 
bers, influential  in  its  membership.  Mr.  Bright, 
once  the  foremost  champion  of  Irish  Nationality,  had 
long  been  drifting  into  line  with  the  Tory  landlords. 
The  author  of  the  famous  phrase  "Force  is  no 
remedy,"  was  now  on  the  side  of  the  Coercionists. 
This  change  had  been  commented  upon  by  the  Irish 
members  in  terms  whose  violent  animosity  naturally 


202  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

aggravated  a  man  who  had  many  claims  upon  their 
gratitude  and  respect.  Mr.  Bright  threw  himself 
into  the  election  contest  on  the  side  of  the  Tories 
with  much  of  the  vigor  with  which  he  had  in  earlier 
days  fought  the  battle  of  the  people  in  the  Corn 
Law  Controversy,  and  in  the  field  of  Parliamentary 
reform.  In  a  speech  delivered  on  the  eve  of  the 
election,  he  declared  that  "the  legislation  proposed 
by  Mr.  Gladstone  is  only  another  step  forward  in 
the  march  through  rapine  to  the  break-up  of  the 
United  Kingdom." 

Mr.  Chamberlain  brought  to  bear  on  the  campaign 
his  unrivalled  experience  in  the  strategy  of  elec- 
tioneering gained  when  Birmingham  was  winning 
for  itself  the  position  of  the  stronghold  of  Liberal- 
ism. Lord  Hartington  carried  his  personal  and  ter- 
ritorial influence  into  opposition  against  his  former 
chief.  The  united,  and  much  invigorated,  body  of 
Conservatives  joined  hands  with  a  mixed  contingent 
of  Whigs  and  Radicals.  The  combination  was  irre- 
sistible, and  when  the  sum  total  of  the  election  was 
reached,  Mr.  Gladstone  found  himself  in  a  minority 
of  113.  The  new  Parliament  consisted  (in  addition 
to  the  Speaker)  of  318  Conservatives,  73  quondam 
Liberals,  an  allied  force  of  391,  mustered  against 
278  Home  Rulers,  of  whom  85  were  under  the  per- 
sonal leadership  of  Mr.   ParncU. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

IN    OPPOSITION. 

This  blow,  falling  unexpectedly  upon  a  man  in  his 
seventy-seventh  year,  was  by  ordinary  computation 
sufficient  to  finally  quench  desire  for  struggle  or  hope 
of  victory.  With  Mr.  Gladstone  it  served  simply  as 
the  incentive  to  further  action.  He  had  been  beaten 
down  to  the  ground  before.  In  1874  he  himself 
thought  his  race  was  run.  Yet  a  little  while  and  he 
returned  to  the  course,  his  colors,  after  strenuous 
struggle,  again  flashing  in  the  front.  As  compared 
with  his  position  after  the  general  election  of  1874, 
his  plight  in  the  summer  of  1886  was  infinitely  more 
hopeless.  At  the  earlier  epoch  the  Liberal  party, 
though  defeated  and  disheartened,  was,  to  such 
extent  as  is  possible  with  it,  united.  Now  it  was 
split  in  twain,  and  the  rivalry  of  the  old  political 
parties  was  loving-kindness  compared  with  the  bitter 
hatred  of  severed  brethren.  Mr.  Bright's  attitude 
towards  his  colleague  and  friend  of  forty  years  was 
typical  of  the  chasms  riven  in  the  party.  Not  only 
had  his  old  captains  turned  upon  him,  carrying  with 
them  files  of  private  soldiers,  but,  in  even  larger 
proportion,  defections  arose  in  the  Liberal  press. 
Of  London  morning  papers  only  one.  The  Daily 
JVeivs,  at  this  crisis  under  new  editorial  management, 


204  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

remained  faithful  to  the  Liberal  chief  and  the  main 
body  of  the  Liberal  party.  In  the  country  important 
papers  like  The  Scotsman  in  Edinburgh  and  The 
Daily  Post  in  Birmingham,  having  through  many 
years  done  conspicuous  service  to  the  Liberal  cause, 
now  joined  the  enemy. 

In  "An  Artist's  Reminiscences,"  Mr.  Rudolf 
Lehmann  quotes  a  personal  tribute  paid  by  the  late 
Sir  Andrew  Clark  to  his  illustrious  patient,  which 
sharply  indicates  Mr.  Gladstone's  position  at  this 
time.  "Here  is  a  man,"  he  said,  "who  at  the  very 
end  of  a  long  life,  honorably  spent  in  the  service  of 
his  country,  in  possession  of  everything  a  mortal  can 
possibly  desire,  risks  fame,  position,  the  love,  nay, 
the  esteem  of  his  country  and  his  Sovereign  —  every- 
thing in  fact  worth  living  for  —  in  order  to  carry  out 
what  he  is  profoundly  convinced  to  be  right.  And 
how  that  man  is  vilified !  But,  mark  my  word,  no 
man  will  be  more  regretted  and  more  extolled  when 
he  is  gone." 

At  one  time  there  seemed  some  possibility  of  the 
wound  being  sewed  up  and  the  Liberal  party  coming 
together  once  more.  Mr.  Chamberlain  was,  at  first, 
a  little  restive  finding  himself  yoked  with  a  political 
party  he  had  spent  the  earlier  years  of  his  life  in 
combating.  On  the  eve  of  Christmas,  1886,  Lord 
Randolj)h  Churchill,  who  in  the  formation  of  Lord 
Salisbury's  Government  had  been  made  Clianccllor 
of  the  Exchequer  and  Leader  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, al)rui)tly  resigned.     There  was  a  time  in  tlie 


IN  OPPOSITION.  205 

Parliament  of  1880-85  when  Mr.  Chamberlain  and 
Lord  Randolph  Churchill  were  almost  literally  at 
daggers  drawn.  Their  long  personal  duel  reached 
a  climax  when  Lord  Randolph,  in  a  succession  of 
stormy  scenes,  indicted  Mr.  Chamberlain  for  alleged 
responsil)ility  for  the  Aston  Riots.  Acting  together 
in  common  opposition  to  Mr.  Gladstone  and  all  his 
w^orks,  the  two  had  become  as  closely  allied  as  they 
were  formerly  bitterly  estranged.  Lord  Randolph's 
retirement  from  the  Ministry  filled  Mr.  Chamberlain 
with  alarm.  "The  old  Tory  influence  had  gained 
the  upper  hand  in  the  Government,"  he  told  his  con- 
stituents, "and  we  may  find  ourselves  face  to  face 
with  a  Tory  Government  whose  proposals  no  consis- 
tent Liberal  would  be  able  to  support."  What  were 
the  Liberals  going  to  do?  "It  seems  to  me,"  Mr. 
Chamberlain  said,  "they  have  a  great,  perhaps  a 
final  opportunity.  We  Liberals  are  agreed  on  ninety- 
nine  points  of  our  programme.  We  disagree  only  on 
one.  Are  we  far  apart  upon  the  principles  which 
ought  to  guide  a  settlement  of  that  one  —  the  Land 
Question  ?  I  think  not.  I  am  convinced  that  sit- 
ting round  a  table,  coming  together  in  a  spirit  of 
compromise  and  conciliation,  almost  any  three  men, 
Leaders  of  the  Liberal  party,  although  they  may  hold 
opposite  views  upon  another  branch  of  the  question, 
would  yet  be  able  to  arrange  some  scheme." 

This  led  to  the  famous  Round  Table  Conference. 
It  consisted  of  Sir  William  Harcourt,  at  whose  house 
the  meetings  were  held,  and  wdio  still  preserves  the 


206  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

table  (which,  by  the  way,  is  not  round,  but  elliptical 
in  shape),  Mr.  John  Morley,  Lord  Herschell,  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  and  Sir  George  Trevelyan.  The  pro- 
ceedings were  watched  with  keen  interest.  Upon  the 
result  everything  turned.  The  Liberal  party  once 
reunited,  the  Salisbury  Ministry  on  Sufferance  would 
go  the  way  of  the  Stop-gap  Government.  At  a  moment 
when  agreement  seemed  within  reach  of  outstretched 
hand  there  appeared  in  Tlie  Baptist  an  article  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  in  which  he  bitterly 
attacked  Mr.  Gladstone.  This  fell  on  the  astonished 
world  like  a  bolt  out  of  the  blue.  Mr.  Gladstone  at 
once  recognized  the  uselessness  of  further  negotia- 
tions for  peace,  and  at  his  instance  Sir  William 
Harcourt  wrote  suggesting  that  further  meetings  of 
the  Conference  should  be  suspended.  It  never  met 
again,  and  day  by  day  the  bitterness  of  parted 
friends  grew  blacker.  Lord  Hartington  and  Mr. 
Chamberlain  still  insisted  that  they,  at  this,  their 
best  of  times,  73  strong,  were  the  true  Liberals,  the 
193  Home  Rulers,  returned  by  British  constituen- 
cies, being  the  Seceders.  They  called  themselves 
Liljcral  Unionists.  But  the  style  Dissentient  Liber- 
als, which  The  Daily  JVeivs  attached  to  the  little 
party,  was  more  widely  accepted. 

Promptly  on  the  conclusion  of  the  general  election, 
Mr.  Gladstone  resigned  office,  and  Lord  Salisbury, 
after  vain  overtures  for  official  coalition  with  Lord 
Hartington,  reigned  in  his  stead.  Once  more  the 
veteran  gladiator  uttered  a  note  of  fatigue.     On  the 


IN  OPPOSITION.  207 

4tli  August,  1886,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Arnold  Morley, 
Chief  Whip  under  his  late  Government :  "  Even  apart 
from  the  action  of  permanent  causes  the  strain  of  the 
last  six  years  upon  me  has  been  great,  and  I  must 
look  for  an  opportunity  of  some  change  and  repose, 
whether  in  or  beyond  this  country."  He  did  not 
appear  during  the  brief  Session  in  which  Lord  Ran- 
dolph Churchill  led  the  House  of  Commons,  spend- 
ing some  autumn  months  in  Italy.  But  he  was  back 
in  the  following  Session,  taking  his  place  as  Leader 
of  the  Opposition,  fulfilling  its  duties  with  unspar- 
ing assiduity.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
debates  connected  with  the  appointment  of  the  Par- 
nell  Commission,  and  surpassed  himself  in  the  vigor 
and  eloquence  of  his  speeches  whenever  the  Irish 
Question  came  up. 

Such  an  occasion  befell  on  a  memorable  night  in 
the  Session  of  1889.  Mr.  John  Morley  had  moved 
an  amendment  to  the  Address,  challenging  the  Irish 
policy  of  the  Government.  Through  four  not  very 
lively  nights  the  talk  had  meandered.  On  Monday, 
the  1st  of  March,  the  House  filled  up  in  anticipation 
of  a  speech  from  Mr.  Gladstone.  The  town  was 
thrilling  with  the  news  which  that  morning  had 
burst  on  the  Courts  of  Justice  where  the  Parnell 
Commission  sat.  Pigott,  the  person  on  whom  The 
Times  had  mainly  built  up  its  charges  against  Mr. 
Parnell,  had  for  some  days  of  the  previous  week 
suffered  scathing  cross-examination  by  Sir  Charles 
Russell.     On  Monday  morning  he  was  to  have   re- 


208  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

turned  to  his  place  of  torture.  When  his  name  was 
called  no  answer  was  forthcoming,  and  soon  it  was 
known  that  the  perjured  witness  had  fled. 

This  collapse  of  a  case  from  which  so  much  was 
hoped  —  had  indeed  been  accomplished  —  to  the 
detriment  of  Home  Rule  visibly  depressed  the  Min- 
isterialists. The  elation  in  the  Liberal  ranks  was 
typified  by  Mr.  Gladstone's  manner  as  he  stood  at 
the  table.  Mr.  Morley's  amendment  was  an  invita- 
tion to  the  Government  to  abandon  their  coercive 
policy  and  attempt  the  pacification  of  Ireland  by 
boldly  and  generously  dealing  with  the  agrarian 
question.  "You  may,"  said  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  a 
concluding  passage  delivered  with  thrilling  energy, 
"  deprive  of  its  grace  and  of  its  freedom  the  act  you 
are  asked  to  do,  but  avert  that  act  you  cannot.  To 
prevent  its  consummation  is  utterly  beyond  your 
power.  It  seems  to  approach  at  an  accelerated  rate. 
Coming  slowly  or  coming  quickly,  surely  it  is  com- 
ing. And  you  yourselves,  many  of  you,  must  in 
your  own  breasts  be  aware  that  already  you  see  in 
the  handwriting  on  the  wall  the  signs  of  coming 
doom. " 

Mr.  Parncll  had  not  been  present  during  this 
speech.  He  came  in  after  dinner,  entering  so  quietly 
that  few  noticed  him.  Mr.  Asquith,  then  an  almost 
unknown  Scotch  member,  had  just  conchidcd  one  of 
those  speeches  which  rapidly  laid  the  sure  foun- 
dations of  high  ministerial  position.  When  the 
crowded  House  became  aware  of  Mr.  Parnell  on  his 


IN  OPPOSITION.  209 

feet  in  an  obscure  quarter  below  the  gangway,  the 
Irish  members  uprose,  stormily  cheering.  Some 
English  members  above  the  gangway  followed  their 
example.  Mr.  Gladstone,  looking  round  and  recog- 
nizing Mr.  Parnell,  rose  to  welcome  the  return  of  a 
man  who  had,  through  strangely  moving  circum- 
stances, emerged  from  dire  peril.  His  action  was 
imitated  by  all  his  colleagues  on  the  Front  Bench, 
only  Lord  Hartington,  who  in  company  with  Mr. 
Chamberlain  and  Sir  Henry  James  through  this 
Parliament  insisted  on  seating  themselves  in  line 
with  Mr.  Gladstone  in  testimony  that  they  were  still 
Liberals,  though  they  habitually  voted  with  the 
Tories  —  only  Lord  Hartington  at  the  gangway-end 
of  the  Front  Opposition  Bench  sat  stolidly  staring 
before  him. 

It  was  a  memorable  scene,  of  which  doubtless  in 
later  years  Mr.  Parnell,  sitting  lonely  below  the 
gangway,  must  sometimes  have  thought. 

After  the  collapse  of  the  Parnell  Commission,  Mr. 
Gladstone's  hope  and  faith,  which  had  never  fal- 
tered, began  to  inspire  the  great  body  of  his  followers 
in  the  House  of  Commons  and  throughout  the  coun- 
try. A  majority  of  113  appears  a  stone  wall  against 
which  a  Leader  of  the  Opposition  may  beat  in  vain. 
Already  it  had  begun  to  crumble.  Not  only  did  the 
bye-elections  send  recruits  to  the  Home  Rule  army, 
but  members  like  Sir  George  Trevelyan,  Mr.  Caine, 
and  others  who  had  seceded  in  1886  becran  to  stracro^le 
back  to  the  colors.     The  rising  tide  that  seemed  to 

14 


210  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

be  carrying  the  Home  Rule  party  into  the  haven  where 
it  would  be  was  suddenly  and  calamitously  checked  by 
an  influence  least  expected  to  work  in  this  direction. 
An  action  for  divorce  brought  by  Captain  O'Shea, 
with  Mr.  Parnell  as  co-respondent,  resulted  in  the 
pronouncement  of  a  decree  nisi.  It  was  naturally 
expected  that  Mr.  Parnell  would  resign  the  Leader- 
ship of  the  Irish  party,  and,  temporarily  at  least, 
withdraw  from  political  life.  Mr.  Parnell  hesitat- 
ing, Mr.  Gladstone  declared  his  position  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter  addressed  to  Mr.  John  Morley :  — 

1,  Carlton  Gardens,  Nov.  24,  1890. 

My  dear  Morley,  —  Having  arrived  at  a  certain  conclusion 
with  regard  to  the  continuance  at  the  present  moment  of  Mr. 
Parnell's  leadership  of  the  Irish  party,  I  have  seen  Mr.  INIcCarthy 
on  my  arrival  in  town,  and  have  inquired  from  him  whether  I  was 
likely  to  receive  from  Mr.  Parnell  himself  any  communication  on 
the  subject.  Mr.  McCarthy  replied  that  he  was  unable  to  give  me 
any  communication  on  the  subject.  I  mentioned  to  him  that  in 
1882,  after  the  terrible  murder  in  the  Phoenix  Park,  Mr.  Parnell, 
although  totally  removed  from  any  idea  of  responsibility,  had 
spontaneously  written  to  me  and  offered  to  take  the  Chiltern  Hun- 
dreds, an  offer  much  to  his  honor,  but  one  which  I  thought  it  my 
duty  to  decline. 

"While  clinging  to  the  hope  of  a  communication  from  Mr.  Par- 
nell to  whomsoever  addressed,  I  thought  it  necessary,  viewing  the 
arrangements  for  the  commencement  of  the  Session  to-morrow,  to 
acquaint  Mr.  McCarthy  of  the  conclusion  at  which,  after  using 
all  the  means  of  observation  and  reflection  in  my  power,  I  had 
myself  arrived.  It  was  that,  notwithstanding  the  splendid  ser- 
vices rendered  by  Mr.  Parnell  to  his  country,  his  continuance  at 
the  present  moment  in  the  Icadershij)  would  be  productive  of  con- 
sequences disastrous  in  the  higlicst  degree  to  the  cause  of  Ireland. 
I  think  I  may  be  warranted  in  asking  you  so  far  to  explain  the 
conclusion  I  have  given  above  as  to  add  that  the  continuance 
which  I  speak  of  would  not  only  place  many  hearty  and  effective 


IN  OPPOSITION.  211 

friends  of  the  Irish  cause  in  a  position  of  great  embarrassment, 
but  would  render  my  retention  of  the  leadership  of  the  Liberal 
Party,  based  as  it  has  been  mainly  upon  the  prosecution  of  the 
Irish  cause,  almost  a  nullity. 

This  explanation  of  my  own  \iew  I  begged  Mr.  McCarthy  to 
rei^ard  as  confidential,  and  not  intended  for  his  colleagues  sener- 
ally,  if  he  found  that  Mr.  Parnell  contemplated  spontaneous 
action.  But  I  also  begged  that  he  would  make  known  to  the 
Irish  party  at  their  meeting  to-morrow  afternoon  that  such  was 
my  conclusion  if  he  should  find  that  Mr.  Parnell  had  not  in  con- 
templation any  step  of  the  nature  indicated. 

I  now  write  to  you  in  case  Mr.  McCarthy  should  be  unable  to 
communicate  with  Mr.  Parnell,  as  I  understand  you  may  possibly 
have  an  opening  to-morrow  through  another  channel.  Should 
you  have  such  an  opening  I  would  beg  you  to  make  known  to 
Mr.  Parnell  the  conclusion  itself,  which  I  have  stated  in  the 
earlier  part  of  this  letter.  I  have  thought  it  best  to  put  it  in 
terms  simple  and  direct,  much  as  I  should  have  desired  had  it 
been  within  my  power  to  alleviate  the  painful  nature  of  the  situa- 
tion. As  respects  the  manner  of  conveying  what  my  public  duty 
has  made  it  an  obligation  to  say,  I  rely  entirely  on  your  good 
feeling,  tact,  and  judgment. 

Mr.  Parnell  declined  to  budge.  There  followed 
the  historic  scenes  in  Committee  Room  No.  15, 
where  the  once  autocratic  Irish  chief  stood  at  bay 
against  the  majority  of  his  own  followers.  There 
were  persistent  rumors  that  Mr.  Gladstone,  tired  out 
and  finally  disgusted  with  the  man  for  whom  he  had 
sacrificed  so  much,  had  resolved  to  quit  the  scene. 
The  story  found  credence  only  in  proportion  as  it 
reached  the  outer  edge  of  the  circle  that  surrounded 
him.  Those  standing  nearer,  privileged  to  watch 
him  work  and  hear  him  talk,  smiled  at  the  notion. 
He  himself  took  no  notice  of  the  persistent  ru- 
mors, till  one  Wednesday  he  indirectly  answered  in 


212  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

conclusive  fashion.  On  that  day  he  made  a  speech 
in  the  House  of  Commons  which  is  conceded  bv 
friend  and  foe  to  rank  on  a  level  with  his  greatest 
efforts.  The  subject  was  of  a  kind  that  always  in- 
spires his  oratory.  It  was  involved  in  a  Bill  pro- 
posing to  remove  the  bar  which  fends  off  Roman 
Catholics  from  the  Woolsack  and  from  the  Lord 
Lieutenancy  of  Ireland.  It  is  almost  the  last  ves- 
tige of  religious  intolerance  left  on  the  statute-book, 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  hoped  to  remove  it  before  his 
strength  was  spent.  As  he  rose  the  House  was 
crowded,  a  rare  thing  on  a  Wednesday  afternoon, 
when  the  Speaker  takes  the  chair  at  mid-day.  He 
spoke  for  an  hour  and  ten  minutes,  with  an  ease,  a 
fulness  of  voice,  a  dignity  of  tone,  and  a  strength  of 
argument  that  charmed  the  House,  if  it  did  not  con- 
vince the  majority.  It  was  a  speech  that,  had  it 
been  the  single  effort  of  a  lifetime,  would  have 
established  a  Parliamentary  reputation.  Coming 
incidentally  in  the  course  of  the  Session,  a  sort  of 
recreation  on  an  off-day  in  a  strenuous  campaign,  it 
was  a  marvellous  achievement  for  an  octogenarian, 
and  for  a  while  dissipated  any  lingering  idea  that 
Mr.  Gladstone,  weary  of  the  long  fight,  weighted 
under  his  load  of  years,  was  sighing  for  rest. 

But  even  with  its  doughtiest  champion  undis- 
mayed, it  seemed  that  at  last  Home  Rule  had 
received  its  death-blow.  It  never  had  roused  senti- 
ment in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  as,  for 
example,    did   the  Reform  Bill,   or  Mr.    Plimsoll's 


IN  OPPOSITION.  213 

crusade  against  overloaded  ships.  It  was  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's marvellous  personality,  his  indomitable 
energy,  his  persuasive  eloquence,  that  had  slowly 
worked  on  the  public  mind,  bringing  it  into  a  con- 
dition in  which  it  was  resolved,  at  whatever  cost,  to 
do  justice  to  a  sister  nation.  Such  a  mood  did  not 
seem  equal  to  the  strain  placed  upon  it  by  the  squab- 
bles that  now  arose  among  the  Irish  members,  by  the 
uproar  in  Committee  Room  No.  15,  by  the  assaults 
led  by  Mr.  Parnell  in  person  on  The  Freeman's 
Journal  Office  in  Dublin,  by  the  recrimination  in 
the  newspapers,  and  by  the  abuse  on  the  platforms. 
The  sincerest  friends  of  Home  Rule  were  growing 
tired  of  it.  Only  Mr.  Gladstone  stood  steadfast, 
pressing  forward  with  unfaltering  step  towards  a 
goal  that  seemed  ever  receding. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

PREMIER  ONCE  MORE. 

Mr.  Gladstone  tells  a  story  of  a  lady  whom  he  met 
within  a  year  of  the  general  election  of  1886.  "  She 
is,  he  says,  an  old  and  esteemed  friend  of  mine,  a 
very  kind  friend,  but  has  the  misfortune  of  being  a 
strong  Tory.  We  were  talking  over  a  recent  speech 
of  Lord  Salisbury  at  the  Carlton  Club.  This  lady 
was  very  much  annoyed  that  Lord  Salisbury  should 
have  exhibited  great  fear  of  a  dissolution.  I  said, 
'  Well,  it  is  very  unreasonable  indeed  that  he  of  all 
people  in  the  world  should  dread  a  dissolution. 
Does  not  everybody  know  —  presuming  to  speak  of 
myself  as  a  symbol  of  the  party  —  is  it  not  an  estab- 
lished fact,  that  at  the  general  election  twelve 
months  ago  I  was  extinguished  ?  '  She  said  to  me 
with  considerable  readiness,  'Yes,  but  you  are  pop- 
ping up  again. '  " 

On  the  28th  of  June  (1892)  the  Salisbury  Parlia- 
ment was  dissolved,  and  as  a  result  of  the  general 
election  that  followed,  Mr.  Gladstone  "popped  up 
again."  In  view  of  the  magnitude  of  the  task  that 
lay  before  him,  the  elevation  reached  was,  however, 
not  encouragingly  high.  The  Conservatives  returned 
2G9  members,  the  Dissenting  Liberals  46,  a  combi- 
nation of  315  against  a  total  of  Ministerialists  of 


PREMIER   ONCE  MORE.  215 

355,  of  whom  274  ranked  as  Liberals,  and  81  as 
Home  Rulers.  This  majority  of  40  was  not  so  wide 
as  Mr.  Gladstone  had  secured  in  1880,  nor  so  deep 
as  that  which  had  kept  Lord  Salisbury  in  power  for 
six  years.  But  it  would  serve,  or  would  serve  sup- 
posing there  were  anything  like  cohesion  in  its  com- 
ponent parts.  A  glance  round  the  new  House  of 
Commons  when  it  first  gathered  sufficed  to  dispel 
pleasing  illusion.  During  the  general  election,  what 
were  safe  Liberal  seats  were  in  several  instances 
wantonly  given  away  by  division  in  the  Liberal 
ranks.  These  divisions  were  marked  in  the  House 
by  the  return  of  a  little  group,  of  whom  Mr.  Keir 
Hardie  was  the  most  prominent  figure,  calling  them- 
selves the  Independent  Labor  Party.  Even  worse  was 
the  chasm  riven  in  the  ranks  of  the  Irish  Nationalist 
members.  Under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  J.  Redmond, 
there  was  a  section  who  devoted  themselves  to  carrying 
out  what  they  believed  to  be  the  policy  of  Mr.  Parnell. 
They  were  only  nine  all  told ;  but  with  a  majority  of 
two-score,  a  compact  body  of  nine,  masters  of  them- 
selves though  Governments  fall,  is  a  matter  of  serious 
consideration.  In  addition  to  their  ever  threatened, 
sometimes  accomplished,  defection,  was  the  damage 
accruing  to  the  Home  Rule  cause  from  the  evidence 
of  lack  of  unity  amongst  those  who  professed  to  be 
its  exponents  and  advocates. 

The  majority  was  at  no  distant  time  to  fall 
away  ;  but  in  the  first  pitched  battle  it  mustered  to  a 
man.     The   new  Parliament   met  on  August  5th  to 


216  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

find  Conservative  Ministers  still  on  the  Treasury 
Bench.  Issue  was  forthwith  joined,  the  motion  for 
the  Address  being  met  by  a  vote  of  no  confidence, 
moved  by  Mr.  Asquith,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Burt, 
an  arrangement  which  accurately  forecasted  the  in- 
clusion of  these  two  members  in  the  new  Govern- 
ment. After  three  days'  debate  the  House  divided, 
the  vote  of  no  confidence  being  carried  by  350  against 
310.  The  formal  business  of  the  Session  being 
hastily  wound  up,  Parliament  was  prorogued,  to 
meet  again  on  the  1st  day  of  February  for  the 
despatch  of  business. 

No  time  was  lost  in  bringing  in  the  Home  Rule 
Bill,  which  stood  first  in  the  programme  announced 
from  the  Treasury  Bench  when  the  new  Session 
opened  under  Mr.  Gladstone's  Premiership.  On 
Monday,  the  14th  of  February,  1893,  Mr.  Gladstone 
rose  in  a  densely  crowded  House  to  ask  leave  to 
introduce  what  through  the  long  fight  he  always 
punctiliously  styled  "a  Bill  for  the  better  govern- 
ment of  Ireland. "  For  him,  if  he  had  been  inclined 
to  take  a  personal  view  of  the  situation,  the  moment 
was  one  of  supreme  triumph.  Out  of  the  lowest,  in 
some  eyes  the  hopeless,  depths  of  Op])osition  he 
had  toiled  upwards,  till  now  he  rose  from  the  seat  of 
the  Prime  Minister,  a  Home  Rule  Bill  once  more  in 
his  hands.  The  accessories  of  the  scene  were  worthy 
of  the  occasion.  Once  more  the  introduction  of  chairs 
on  the  floor  of  tlie  House  was  sanctioned  in  order  to 
suj)plement  the  ordinary  accommodation.     It  did  not 


PREMIER    ONCE  MORE.  217 

come  to  much  as  far  as  heads  were  counted.  But 
some  two-score  memhers,  wedged  in  on  the  floor  of 
the  House,  gave  the  last  touch  of  animation  to  the 
crowded  scene.  From  the  Peers'  Gallery  the  Prince 
of  Wales  looked  down  and  listened.  On  his  left 
hand  sat  the  Duke  of  York.  The  Peers  fought  for 
their  places  like  pittites  at  the  door  of  a  theatre  on 
an  attractive  "first  night."  Lord  Rosebery  and 
Earl  Spencer  strategically  avoided  the  crush  by 
securing  seats  in  the  Diplomatic  Gallery,  otherwise 
crowded  by  Foreign  Ministers  and  Attaches.  When 
Mr.  Gladstone  stood  at  the  table,  Liberal  and  Irish 
members  with  one  accord  leaped  to  their  feet,  the 
ranks  below  the  gangway  shutting  out  from  view  the 
double  row  of  Dissentient  Liberals,  who  stubbornly 
kept  their  seats.  The  first  sentences  spoken  by  the 
Premier  showed  he  was  in  full  possession  of  his 
still  splendid  voice.  According  to  habitude  he  had 
brought  with  him  the  famous  pomatum-pot,  which 
he  placed  on  the  table  by  the  side  of  his  notes.  But 
only  twice  in  a  speech  that  exceeded  two  hours  in 
the  delivery  did  he  have  recourse  to  its  refreshment. 

It  was  characteristic  of  his  mental  subtlety  that 
he  showed  himself  at  the  outset  anxious  to  make  it 
clear  that  the  Bill  of  1886,  which  had  resulted  in 
his  defeat  and  long  consignment  to  opposition,  was 
not  abandoned  by  its  author.  Five  principles  under- 
lay that  measure.  To  those  principles  the  new  Bill 
would  be  found  closely  to  adhere,  though,  he  added 
parenthetically,  "there  are  certain  important  changes 


218  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

in  detail."  What  these  were,  and  as  including  the 
retention  of  the  Irish  members  they  were  certainly 
not  unimportant,  was  made  clear  in  the  luminous 
exposition  to  which  the  House  listened  with  rapt 
attention.  Subject  to  the  reservation  of  certain 
matters  for  the  consideration  of  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment the  Bill  as  brought  in  constituted  an  Irish 
Legislature  authorized  to  make  laws  for  Ireland  in 
matters  exclusively  relating  to  Ireland.  The  matters 
reserved  for  the  Imperial  Parliament  related  to  the 
Crown,  the  Viceroyalty,  the  declaration  of  war 
and  the  making  of  peace,  national  defence,  foreign 
treaties,  dignities,  titles,  coining,  and  everything 
belonging  to  external  trade.  With  a  view  to  reliev- 
ing Viceroyalty  of  party  character,  the  Bill  provided 
that  the  office  should  be  held  for  six  years,  not  as 
hitherto  dependent  upon  the  coming  and  going  of 
Ministers.  An  Executive  Committee  of  the  Privy 
Council  in  Ireland  Avould  serve  the  Viceroy  as  a 
Cabinet,  advising  him  whether  to  give  or  withhold 
his  assent  to  Bills  passed  by  the  Irish  Parliament, 
the  veto  of  the  Sovereign  remaining  in  full  force. 
The  Irish  Parliament  would  consist  of  two  Chambers, 
a  Legislative  Council  and  a  Legislative  Body.  The 
former,  elected  by  constituencies  composed  of  persons 
of  twenty  pound  rating,  would  consist  of  forty-eight 
mcml)ers,  who  would  sit  for  eight  years.  The  Legis- 
lative Body,  consisting  of  103  meml)ers,  would  be 
elected  by  the  existing  Parliamentary  constituencies 
for  a  period  of  live  years.     The  constabulary  would 


PREMIER   ONCE  MORE.  219 

be  gradually  replaced  by  a  body  appointed  under  the 
direction  of  the  new  Legislature,  remaining  during 
the  period  of  transition  under  the  direction  of  the 
Viceroy.  Irish  members  were  to  be  retained  at 
Westminster  in  the  reduced  number  of  80,  that  Ijeing 
their  precise  proportional  representation,  and  in  only 
practical  exercise  of  the  rights  of  voting.  They 
were,  for  example,  precluded  from  taking  part  in 
divisions  on  any  Bill  or  motion  "  exclusively  affect- 
ing Great  Britain  or  things  or  persons  therein. "  Nor 
were  they  to  vote  any  money  otherwise  than  for  Im- 
perial purposes.  As  to  financial  arrangements,  the 
Bill  proposed  that  the  Customs  Duties  should  be 
appropriated  as  Ireland's  contribution  to  Imperial 
finance,  leaving  to  the  Dublin  Parliament  revenues 
arising  from  the  excise,  local  taxes.  Post  Office  and 
Crown  Lands.  With  the  exception  of  the  constabu- 
lary, to  the  cost  of  which  the  Imperial  Exchequer 
would  contribute  one  third,  Ireland  would  be  required 
to  meet  the  whole  of  the  charges  under  its  new 
legislation. 

Folding  up  and  laying  aside  the  notes  on  which  his 
explanation  of  the  details  of  the  Bill  was  based, 
Mr.  Gladstone,  in  a  noble  peroration,  the  music  of 
which  was  long  sustained,  pointed  to  the  future.  If 
this  controversy  were  to  end,  the  sooner  they  stamped 
and  sealed  the  deed  that  was  to  efface  all  former 
animosities  the  better.  For  his  part,  he  never  would, 
and  never  could,  be  a  party  to  bequeathing  to  his 
country  a  continuance  of  the   heritage  of  discord. 


220  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

handed  down  through  seven  centuries  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  with  hardly  a  momentary  inter- 
ruption. "Sir,"  he  said,  in  a  voice  struggling  with 
emotion,  "it  would  be  a  misery  to  me  if  I  had 
omitted  in  these  closing  years  any  measures  possible 
for  mc  to  take  towards  upholding  and  promoting 
what  I  believe  to  be  the  cause,  not  of  one  party  nor 
of  another,  not  of  one  nation  nor  another,  but  of 
all  parties  and  all  nations  inhabiting  these  islands." 
"  Let  me  entreat  you,"  he  added  in  last  words,  spoken 
in  clear  though  low  voice,  "  if  it  were  with  my  latest 
breath  I  would  entreat  you  to  let  the  dead  bury  its 
dead.  Cast  behind  you  every  recollection  of  bygone 
evils,  cherish,  love,  and  sustain  one  another  through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  human  affairs  in  the  times 
that  are  to  come." 

The  first  reading  was  not  challenged  to  the  point 
of  a  division.  After  four  nights'  debate  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, sitting  up  till  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  for 
the  studiously  delayed  opportunity,  brought  in  the 
Bill  amid  a  fresh  demonstration  of  enthusiasm  on 
the  Ministerial  benches.  Twelve  nights  were  occu- 
pied in  occasionally  animated  debate  on  the  second 
reading,  which  was  carried  by  347  votes  against  304, 
figures  that  show  how,  perhaps  inspired  rather  by 
the  energy  of  a  great  statesman  and  orator  than  by 
uncontrollal)le  enthusiasm  for  the  measure,  the  Min- 
isterial majority  stood  together.  Forty-eight  sittings 
were  appropriated  to  Committee  of  the  Bill.  For 
the  most  part  they  were  very  dull,  flashing  up  on  the 


PREMIER   ONCE  MORE.  221 

last  night  in  a  scene  of  happily  unparalleled  dis- 
order, a  free  fight  taking  place  on  the  floor  of  the 
House.  After  fourteen  nights  on  the  report  stage, 
which  offered  opportunity  of  saying  over  again  with 
the  Speaker  in  the  Chair  what  had  been  repeated  ad 
nauseam  in  Committee,  the  closure  was  invoked  and 
the  Bill  ordered  for  third  reading.  Three  more 
nights  sufficed  for  this  final  stage.  The  Bill  was 
sent  up  to  the  Lords,  who  after  four  nights'  debate 
threw  it  out,  on  September  8,  by  419  votes  against  41. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   BOW    UNBENT. 

The  Session  had  now  entered  upon  its  eighth  month. 
Day  and  night  through  its  restless,  sometimes  turbu- 
lent, progress  Mr.  Gladstone  had  been  at  his  post 
bearing  in  person  the  brunt  of  the  battle  that  raged 
round  the  Home  Rule  Bill.  When,  on  the  21st  of 
September,  the  House  adjourned,  it  seemed  an  occa- 
sion peculiarly  fitted  for  prolonged  recess.  But  in 
spite  of  exceptional  hard  labor,  the  Session  had  been 
almost  barren.  Resolved  that  the  year  should  have 
some  legislative  record,  the  Premier  arranged  for  an 
autumn  sitting.  The  House  accordingly  met  again 
on  the  2nd  of  November,  and  with  brief  intermission 
for  Christmas  Day,  sat  up  to  the  5th  of  March,  1894. 
The  time  was  chiefly  occupied  with  consideration  of 
the  English  Local  Government  Bill  and  the  Employ- 
ers' Liability  Bill.  The  former  the  Lords  seriously 
hampered  with  amendments.  The  latter  thoy  so 
completely  crushed  that  the  Government  declined 
the  responsibility  of  adopting  the  cripple,  and  it  was 
laid  aside.  From  first  to  last  this,  Mr.  Gladstone's 
last  active  Parliamentary  Session,  included  22G  sit- 
tings, ninety  more  than  the  average  of  the  previous 
fifteen  years.     The  work  of  a  hundred  days,  bestowed 


THE  BOW   UNBENT.  223 

upon  the  Home  Rule  Bill,  the  Employers'  Liability 
and  the  Scotch  Sea  Fisheries  Bills,  was  nullified  by 
the  action  of  the  House  of  Lords. 

Mr.  (Gladstone  snatched  a  brief  holiday  at  Biarritz. 
Whilst  he  was  yet  away  the  persistent  stream  of 
rumor  asserting  his  intended  resignation  crystallized 
in  a  definite  statement  published  in  an  evening  news- 
paper. The  positiveness  of  the  assurance  created  pro- 
found sensation,  not  absolutely  set  at  rest  by  the 
guarded  terms  in  which  Mr.  Gladstone,  personally 
appealed  to,  seemed  to  contradict  the  statement.  He 
came  back  to  find  the  House  of  Commons  engaged  in 
conflict  with  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  Employers' 
Liability  Bill.  They  had  introduced  an  amendment 
making  it  possible  for  railway  servants  to  contract 
themselves  out  of  the  operation  of  the  Act.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  declining  to  accept  the  Bill  thus  muti- 
lated, moved  its  discharge.  Another  tussle  arose 
over  the  Parish  Councils  Bill.  It  was  in  explaining 
the  reasons  why  the  Government,  shrinking  from 
completing  the  wreck  of  the  Session,  would  carry 
forward  the  Bill  with  the  Lords'  amendments,  that 
he,  on  the  1st  of  March,  made  his  last  speech  at  the 
table  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  the  capacity  of 
Prime  Minister. 

Whilst  the  House  was  crowded  to  its  fullest  ca- 
pacity, it  did  not  surely  know  what  was  happening. 
The  air  was  full  of  rumors,  but  the  immediate 
effect  of  the  speech  w^as  to  discredit  the  supposition 
that  resignation  was  imminent.     That  it  had   been 


224  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

decided  upon  and  must  take  place  at  an  early  date 
was  accepted  as  inevitable.  There  was,  indeed,  one 
passage  forming  the  closing  words  of  this  memorable 
speech  that,  read  by  the  light  of  subsequent  events, 
plainly  indicated  Mr.  Gladstone's  position  —  that  of 
a  knight  who  had  laid  down  his  well-worn  sword, 
hung  up  his  dinted  armor,  content  thereafter  to  look 
on  the  lists  where  others  strove.  The  House  of 
Lords,  in  accentuation  of  an  attitude  long  assumed, 
had,  he  said,  within  the  last  twelve  months  shown 
itself  ready,  not  to  modify,  but  to  annihilate  the 
work  of  the  House  of  Commons.  "In  our  judgment," 
Mr.  Gladstone  said  slowly  and  emphatically,  "this 
state  of  things  cannot  continue."  After  a  pause, 
necessitated  by  the  vociferous  cheering  of  the  Lib- 
erals, he  added,  "For  me,  my  duty  terminates  with 
calling  the  attention  of  the  House  to  the  fact,  which 
it  is  really  impossible  to  set  aside,  that  in  consider- 
ing these  amendments,  limited  as  their  scope  may 
seem  to  some  to  be,  we  are  considering  a  part  —  an 
essential  and  inseparable  part  —  of  a  question  enor- 
mously large,  a  question  that  has  become  profoundly 
acute,  a  question  that  will  demand  a  settlement,  and 
must  at  an  early  date  receive  that  settlement  from 
the  highest  authority." 

This  limitation  of  active  personal  share  in  the 
crusade  against  the  Lords  certainly  sounded  like  an 
announcement  of  the  end.  But  looking  on  the  up- 
right figure  standing  by  the  brass-bound  box,  watch- 
ing the  mobile  countenance,  the  free  gestures,  noting 


THE  BOW   UNBENT,  225 

the  ardor  with  which  the  flag  was  waved  leading  to 
a  new  battle-field,  it  was  impossible  to  associate 
thought  of  resignation  with  the  Premier's  mood. 

The  situation  of  the  hour  was  one  of  difficulty  not 
unfamiliar  to  the  Leader  of  the  Liberal  party,  and 
was  approached  and  over-mastered  with  a  skill  pecu- 
liar to  Mr.  Gladstone.  Faced  by  serried  ranks  of 
opponents,  he  was  hampered  on  the  flank  by  malcon- 
tents within  his  own  camp.  As  usual  at  political 
crises,  there  was  a  body  of  statesmen  below  the 
gangway  w^ho  knew  much  better  how  to  set  the  battle 
in  array  than  did  the  veteran  commander.  They 
thirsted  for  the  blood  of  the  hereditary  legislator. 
They  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  Lord 
Salisbury's  head  brought  in  on  a  charger  by  the 
Sergeant-at-Arms.  When,  on  the  threshold  of  his 
speech,  Mr.  Gladstone  plainly  declared  that  the  con- 
flict between  the  two  Houses  had  continued  long 
enough  they  vociferously  cheered.  When  he  pro- 
ceeded to  explain  the  plan  of  campaign  involving  a 
temporary  suspension  of  hostilities,  they  relapsed 
into  sullen  silence.  When  the  speech  was  over  they, 
thirty-seven  strong,  went  out  into  the  lobby  to  vote 
against  their  chief,  who,  in  the  last  division  he  took 
part  in  as  Leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  found 
himself  walking  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  men 
who  had  defeated  his  cherished  Home  Rule  scheme, 
and  who  now  fell  in  line  to  support  him  against  the 
revolt  of  a  section  of  his  followers. 

This  episode  was  the  only  thing  that  marred  a  his- 

15 


226  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

toric  scene.  The  audience  was  worthy  of  the  occa- 
sion. Closely  packed  from  the  benches  on  the  floor 
to  the  topmost  range  of  the  Strangers'  Gallery,  it 
sat  watchful  and  intently  listening.  Of  the  members 
who  have  taken  prominent  part  in  recent  stirring 
Parliamentary  history  only  Mr.  Chamberlain  was 
absent.  Had  he  been  there  he  might  have  spent  an 
interval  of  proud,  if  pained,  reflection  on  the  unful- 
filled. Had  he  not,  for  conscience'  sake,  separated 
himself  from  the  bulk  of  the  Liberal  party  in  the 
cataclysm  of  1886,  there  would  have  been  no  occa- 
sion for  the  controversy  that  presently  raged  as  to 
who  should  be  Mr.  Gladstone's  successor.  Mr. 
Arthur  Balfour,  a  young  elegant  hardly  known  to  the 
House,  and  not  at  all  to  the  country  when  Mr.  Glad- 
stone began  his  Ministry  of  1880,  now  sat  opposite 
to  him.  Leader  of  the  Opposition,  with  an  established 
reputation,  whose  daily  growth  had  been  watched  by 
none  with  keener  pleasure  or  more  generous  satisfac- 
tion than  by  the  veteran  against  whose  shield  he  had 
tilted.  On  Mr.  Balfour's  right  hand  sat  Lord  Ran- 
dolph Churchill,  who  within  the  same  space  of  four- 
teen years  had  found  time  laboriously  to  build  and 
abruptly  to  wreck  a  unique  position.  In  the  gallery 
over  the  clock  sat  the  statesman  who  nearly  twenty 
years  ago  succeeded  Mr.  Gladstone  when  "  at  the  age 
of  sixty-five  and  after  forty -two  years  of  laborious 
public  life,"  he  first  thought  himself  entitled  to 
retire.  At  arm's-length  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire, 
with  head  resting  on  his  hands,  sat  Lord  Roscbcry, 


THE  BOW   UNBENT.  227 

looking  on  at  a  scene  the  secret  of  whose  full  import 
he  shared  with  the  few  who  knew  how  peculiarly 
close  was  his  personal  interest  in  it.  Between  them, 
bolt  upright,  sat  Lord  Spencer,  to  whom  the  turn 
affairs  had  taken  must  have  been  strangest  of  all. 
Had  the  event  which  now  culminated  happened  ten 
years  ago  there  is  no  doubt  it  would  have  been  upon 
Lord  Spencer,  not  Lord  Rosebery,  that  all  eyes 
would  have  been  fixed  as  the  successor  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone. His  high  character,  his  long  services  to  the 
Liberal  party,  crowned  by  his  personal  devotion, 
priceless  in  Ireland  in  the  troublous  times  between 
1882-85,  marked  him  out  for  the  office.  But  events 
move  rapidly  in  politics,  and  some  men  insensibly 
move  aside.  It  came  to  pass,  on  the  day  when  Mr. 
Gladstone  finally  quitted  the  scene,  Lord  Spencer's 
name  was  not  even  mentioned  in  the  running  for  the 
succession. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  coincidence,  one  of  the  few 
points  of  similarity  in  the  careers  of  Mr.  Gladstone 
and  Mr.  Disraeli,  that  having  made  their  last  speech 
in  Ministerial  capacity  they  walked  away  without 
taking  formal  farewell,  leaving  the  House  uncon- 
scious that  it  had  been  assisting  at  an  historical  scene. 
It  did  not  know,  on  an  August  night  passed  away 
seventeen  years  earlier,  when  Mr.  Disraeli  stood  by 
the  table  and  joined  in  debate,  that  it  would  be  the 
last  time  he  might  ever  speak  from  the  familiar 
place.  He  knew  it  of  course,  and  it  was  possibly 
not  by  accident  that  the  final  word  spoken  by  him  in 


228  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

the  ear  of  the  House  of  Commons  was  "Empire." 
The  speech  attracted  little  attention  from  a  by  no 
means  crowded  House.  The  Session  was  old,  mem- 
bers were  weary,  and  debates  on  foreign  affairs  had 
come  to  be  something  of  a  bore.  The  Premier  spoke 
after  dinner,  and,  resuming  his  seat,  sat  for  a  while 
silent  with  folded  arms  and  head  bent  down.  When 
the  question  in  discussion  of  which  he  had  joined 
was  disposed  of,  midnight  struck,  and  the  business  of 
the  sitting  was  approaching  completion.  He  rose 
and  shook  himself  together  with  the  action  which  in 
those  last  years  he  found  a  necessary  preparation  for 
stately  march  under  observant  eyes.  Had  he  fol- 
lowed his  ordinary  habit  and  walked  out  behind  the 
Speaker's  chair,  one  would  not  have  noticed,  even 
been  aware  of,  his  departure.  On  this  particular 
night  he  walked  the  full  length  of  the  floor,  turning 
as  he  passed  the  Mace  to  make  obeisance  to  the 
Speaker.  He  halted  again  on  reaching  the  Bar,  and 
stood  there  for  a  moment  silently  regarding  the 
House  less  than  half  filled  and  wholly  unconscious 
of  this  silent  farewell.  Then  he  crossed  the  Bar, 
never  more  to  return  to  the  scene  of  his  one  historic 
failure  and  his  many  brilliant  successes. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  on  finally  quitting  the  Treasury 
Bench,  did  not  even  so  far  depart  from  his  ordinary 
custom.  He  sat  listening  to  Mr.  Balfour's  vigorous 
speech,  in  which  the  Opposition  Leader  announced 
amid  a  fresh  burst  of  cheering  from  the  delighted 
Liberals  that  "behind  the  dignified  language  of  the 


THE  BOW   UNBENT.  229 

speech  there  lurked  nothing  less  than  a  declaration 
of  war  against  the  ancient  Constitution  of  these 
realms."  After  the  division  he  sat  for  a  while  with 
his  Ministerial  box  on  his  knee,  chatting  brightly  to 
his  colleagues,  some  of  whom  were  sharers  in  his 
secret.  Then  he  rose  and  walked  out  with  springy 
steps,  by  his  usual  pathway  behind  the  Speaker's 
chair. 

To  men  familiar  for  twenty  years  or  more  with  the 
House  of  Commons  it  seemed  impossible  that  it 
could  be  itself  when  this  majestic  figure  was  with- 
drawn. For  those  of  sentimental  mood  the  pity  of  it 
is  that  presently,  almost  immediately,  things  began 
to  go  forward  much  as  they  did  when  Mr.  Gladstone 
sat  in  the  seat  of  Leader.  No  man,  not  even  Mr. 
Gladstone,  is  indispensable.  When  Mr.  Disraeli 
vanished  from  the  scene  it  was  felt  that  an  irretriev- 
able blow  had  been  dealt  at  its  attractiveness  and 
personal  interest.  But  the  Speaker  took  the  chair 
as  heretofore.  The  Clerk  proceeded  to  read  the 
orders  of  the  day.  The  Fourth  Party  leaped  into 
existence  to  make  things  lively,  and  members  stray- 
ing over  to  the  House  of  Lords  on  occasional  field 
nights  marvelled  to  discover  how  dull  Lord  Beacons- 
field  had  become. 

Happily,  though  the  dignified  presence  be  with- 
drawn, and  may  never  more  be  seen  on  the  Treasury 
Bench,  the  figure  which  was  the  cynosure  of  every 
eye  there  will  ever  remain  with  the  House  of  Com- 
mons the  precious  possession  of  memory.     Men,  in 


230  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

this  respect  undivided  by  political  opinion,  momen- 
tarily free  from  party  asperity,  will  be  thankful  that 
though  they  never  saw  Pitt  in  the  flesh,  never  heard 
Canning's  voice,  they  have  sat  through  successive 
Parliaments  with  Mr.   Gladstone. 


CHAPTER   XXYL 

IN   THE   HOUSE   AND   OUT. 

More  than  half  a  century  ago  there  was  published  a 
little  book  entitled  the  "  British  Senate  in  1838. "  It 
is  full  of  those  personal  descriptions  of  eminent  men 
in  their  public  capacity  which,  written  in  our  own 
time,  we  very  properly  reprobate,  but  for  which  his- 
torians and  biographers,  writing  many  years  after, 
are  exceedingly  grateful.  The  anonymous  writer 
has  preserved  for  posterity  a  picture  of  the  young 
man  eloquent  which  is  rare  and  interesting. 

"Mr.  Gladstone's  appearance  and  manners,"  he 
says,  "  are  much  in  his  favor.  He  is  a  fine-looking 
man.  He  is  about  the  usual  height,  and  of  good 
figure.  His  countenance  is  mild  and  pleasant,  and 
has  a  highly  intellectual  expression.  His  eyes  are 
clear  and  quick ;  his  eyebrows  are  dark  and  rather 
prominent.  There  is  not  a  dandy  in  the  House  but 
envies  what  Truefitt  would  call  his  '  fine  head  of  jet- 
black  hair. '  It  is  always  carefully  parted  from  the 
crown  downward  to  his  brow,  where  it  is  tastefully 
shaded ;  his  features  are  small  and  regular,  and  his 
complexion  must  be  a  very  unworthy  witness  if  he 
does  not  possess  an  abundant  stock  of  health.  Mr. 
Gladstone's  gesture  is  varied  but  not  violent.  When 
he  rises  he  generally  puts  both  his  hands  behind  his 


232  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

back,  and  having  there  suffered  them  to  embrace 
"each  other  for  a  short  time,  he  unclasps  them,  and 
allows  them  to  drop  on  either  side.  They  are  not 
permitted  to  remain  long  in  the  locality  before  you 
see  them  again  closed  together,  and  hanging  down 
before  him.  Their  reunion  is  not  suffered  to  last  for 
any  length  of  time.  Again  a  separation  takes  place, 
and  now  the  right  hand  is  seen  moving  up  and  down 
before  him.  Having  thus  exercised  it  a  little,  he 
thrusts  it  into  the  pocket  of  his  coat,  and  then  orders 
the  left  hand  to  follow  its  example.  Having  granted 
them  a  momentary  repose  there,  they  are  again  put 
into  motion,  and  in  a  few  seconds  they  are  seen 
reposing  vis-a-vis  on  his  breast.  He  moves  his  face 
and  body  from  one  direction  to  another,  not  forget- 
ting to  bestow  a  liberal  share  of  attention  on  his  own 
party.  He  is  always  listened  to  with  much  atten- 
tion by  the  House,  and  appears  to  be  highly  respected 
by  men  of  all  parties.  He  is  a  man  of  good  business 
habits ;  of  this  he  furnished  abundant  proof  when 
Under-Secretary  for  the  Colonies,  during  the  short- 
lived Administration  of  Sir  Robert  Peel." 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  some  of  these  manner- 
isms of  nearly  sixty  years  ago  are  preserved  by  the 
great  statesman  the  House  of  Commons  knew  in  the 
last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  par- 
ticularly notable  that  up  to  the  last,  when  Mr.  Glad- 
stone rose  and  began  what  was  intended  to  be  a  great 
oration,  he  had  a  tendency  to  clasp  liis  hands  behind 
his  back.     This  attitude,  like  the  subdued  mood  of 


IN   THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  233 

which  it  is  an  indication,  prevailed  only  during  the 
opening  sentences.  Age  fired  rather  than  dulled  his 
oratorical  energy.  When  in  Opposition  during  the 
Parliament  of  1874-80  he  increased  in  rapidity  of 
gesture  almost  to  the  point  of  fury.  The  jet-black 
hair  had  faded  and  fallen,  leaving  only  a  few  thin 
wisps  of  gray  carefully  disposed  over  the  grandly 
formed  head,  with  which,  as  he  once  told  a  Scotch 
deputation,  London  hatters  have  had  such  trouble. 
The  rounded  cheeks  were  sunken,  their  bloom  giving 
place  to  pallor.  The  full  brow  was  wrinkled.  The 
dark  eyes,  bright  and  flashing  still,  were  underset 
with  innumerable  wrinkles.  The  "  good  figure  "  was 
somewhat  rounded  at  the  shoulders ;  and  the  sprightly 
step  was  growing  deliberate.  But  the  intellectual 
fire  of  early  manhood  was  quickened  rather  than 
quenched,  and  the  promise  of  health  had  been  abun- 
dantly fulfilled  in  a  maintenance  of  physical  strength 
and  activity  that  came  to  be  phenomenal.  Up  to 
his  eightieth  year  Mr.  Gladstone  would  outsit  the 
youngest  member  of  the  House  if  the  issue  at  stake 
claimed  his  vote  in  the  pending  division.  He  could 
speak  for  three  hours  at  a  stretch,  putting  in  in  that 
time  as  much  mental  and  physical  energy  as,  judi- 
ciously distributed,  would  have  sufficed  for  the  whole 
debate. 

By  comparison  he  was  far  more  emphatic  in  ges- 
ture when  addressing  the  House  of  Commons  than 
when  standing  before  a  public  meeting.  This,  doubt- 
less, was  explicable  by  the  fact  that,  while  in  the 


234  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

one  case  he  was  free  from  contradiction,  in  the 
other  he  was,  more  particularly  during  periods  of 
Tory  ascendency,  outrageously  subject  to  it.  Trem- 
bling through  every  nerve  with  intensity  of  conviction 
and  the  wrath  of  battle,  he  almost  literally  smote  his 
opponent  hip  and  thigh.  Taking  the  brass -bound  box 
upon  the  table  as  representative  of  "the  right  honor- 
able gentleman  "  or  "  the  noble  lord  "  opposite,  he 
beat  it  violently  with  his  right  hand,  creating  a 
resounding  noise  that  sometimes  made  it  difficult  to 
catch  the  words  he  desired  to  emphasize.  Or,  stand- 
ing with  heels  closely  pressed  together,  and  feet 
spread  out  fan-wise,  so  that  he  might  turn  as  on  a 
pivot  to  watch  the  effect  of  his  speech  on  either  side 
of  the  House,  he  would  assume  that  the  palm  of  his 
left  hand  was  his  adversary  of  the  moment,  and 
straightway  violently  beat  upon  it  with  his  right 
hand.  At  this  stage  was  noted  the  most  marked 
retention  of  early  House  of  Commons  habit,  in  the 
way  in  which  the  orator  continually  turned  round  to 
address  his  own  followers,  to  the  outraging  of  a  fun- 
damental point  of  etiquette  which  requires  that  all 
speech  shall  be  directed  to  the  Chair. 

There  is  a  passage  in  Mr.  Lccky's  "History  of 
England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century "  which  reads 
like  a  page  taken  out  of  a  study  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  to 
be  written  by  the  historian  who  shall  write  the  "  His- 
tory of  England  in  the  Nineteenth  Century." 

Pitt  had  (Mr.  Lecky  writes)  every  requisite  of  a  great  debater  : 
perfect  self-possession;  an  unbi-okcn  flow  of  sonorous  and  dignified 


IN  THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  235 

Ian2:nage ;  great  quickness  and  cogency  of  reasoning,  and  especially 
of  reply ;  an  admirable  gift  of  lucid  and  methodical  statement ;  an 
extraordinary  skill  in  arranging  the  course  and  symmetry  of  an 
unpremeditated  speech  ;  a  memory  singularly  strong  and  sin- 
o-ularly  accurate.  No  one  knew  better  how  to  turn  and  retort 
arguments,  to  seize  in  a  moment  on  a  weak  point  or  an  unguarded 
phrase,  to  evade  issues  which  it  was  not  convenient  to  press  too 
closely,  to  conceal,  if  necessary,  his  sentiments  and  his  intentions 
under  a  cloud  of  vague,  brilliant,  and  imposing  verbiage. 

With  one  exception  this  is  a  minute,  accurate, 
and  striking  description  of  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  The  exception  will  be  found  in 
the  first  requisite  cited  in  the  summing  up  of  the 
character  of  a  great  debater.  Once  on  his  feet  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Gladstone's  self-posses- 
sion left  little  to  be  desired.  But  when,  in  times  of 
great  pressure,  badgered  by  inconsiderable  persons 
on  the  opposite  benches,  the  great  orator,  the  states- 
man who  towered  head  and  shoulders  above  any  who 
sat  around  him  or  before  him,  sometimes  fell  into  a 
condition  of  mind  and  body  that  excited  the  mock- 
ing laughter  of  his  opponents,  the  sorrow  and  regret 
of  his  friends. 

This  weakness,  the  more  notable  by  reason  of  its 
contrast  with  the  imperturbability  of  Mr.  Disraeli, 
made  the  parliamentary  fortune  of  many  men  of 
varying  ability.  When  Sir  William  Harcourt  and 
Sir  Henry  James  sat  together  below  the  gangway  in 
the  Parliament  of  1868,  they,  as  we  have  seen, 
shrewdly  recognized  the  pathway  to  promotion.  In 
the  same  way,  though  not  in  similar  degree,  Mr. 
Ashmead  Bartlett  and  Mr.  Warton  profited  by  Mr. 


236  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

Gladstone's  inability  to  control  himself  when,  seated 
on  either  of  the  front  benches,  he  followed  the  course 
of  acrimonious  debate.  Mr.  Stanley  Leighton,  who 
at  one  time  seemed  in  the  running,  lost  his  prize 
only  because  he  had  not  staying  power.  Mr.  War- 
ton,  a  vulgar,  boorish  partisan,  early  discovered  that 
he  could  "  draw  "  Mr.  Gladstone  at  pleasure,  dis- 
turbing him  at  his  work  just  as  the  braying  of  an  ass 
which  had  strayed  in  the  courtyard  of  the  quiet  house 
in  the  suburbs  of  Athens  might  have  fatally  broken 
in  on  the  meditation  of  Plato.  To  call  "  Oh  !  oh !  " 
and  "  Ah !  ah !  "  when  the  veteran  statesman,  borne 
down  through  the  day  with  imperial  cares,  was  occu- 
pying an  hour  of  the  evening  in  strenuous  debate, 
did  not  require  much  mental  activity  or  seem  to 
demand  prodigious  recompense.  Yet  it  led  Mr. 
Warton  into  a  comfortable  salaried  office  at  the 
Antipodes.  Mr.  Ashmead  Bartlett  did  better  still, 
a  minor  place  in  the  Ministry,  crowned  by  a  knight- 
hood, rewarding  his  patriotic  endeavors.  Working 
in  the  same  way,  though  on  a  higher  level.  Lord 
Randolph  Churchill,  Sir  Henry  Wolff,  and  Sir  John 
Gorst  first  brought  themselves  into  notice. 

Except  at  its  very  best,  Mr.  Gladstone's  parlia- 
mentary manner  lacked  repose.  lie  was  always 
brimming  over  with  energy  which  had  much  better 
have  been  reserved  for  worthier  objects  than  those 
that  sometimes  succeeded  in  evoking  its  lavish  expen- 
diture. I  once  followed  Mr.  Gladstone  through  the 
hours  of  an  eventful  sitting  and  jotted  down  notes  of 


IN   THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  237 

his  manifold  gyrations.  It  should  be  premised  that 
the  date  was  towards  the  conclusion  of  his  second 
Administration,  when  once  more,  as  in  1873,  things 
were  going  wrong.  The  foe  opposite  was  increasing 
in  the  persistence  of  its  attack,  and  nominal  friends 
on  the  benches  near  him  were  growing  weary  in 
their  allegiance  and  lukewarm  in  their  attachment. 
The  Premier  came  in  from  behind  the  Speaker's 
chair  with  hurried  pace.  He  had  been  detained  in 
Downing  Street  up  to  the  last  moment  by  important 
despatches  on  a  critical  matter  then  engrossing  public 
attention.  As  usual  when  contemplating  making  a 
great  speech,  he  had  a  flower  in  his  buttonhole,  and 
was  dressed  with  unusual  care.  Striding  swiftly 
past  his  colleagues  on  the  Treasury  Bench,  he 
dropped  into  the  seat  kept  vacant  for  him,  and  has- 
tily taking  up  a  copy  of  the  Orders,  ascertained 
what  particular  question  in  the  long  list  had  been 
reached.  Then  turning  with  a  sudden  bound  of  his 
whole  body  to  the  right,  he  entered  into  animated 
conversation  with  a  colleague,  his  pale  face  working 
with  excitement,  his  eyes  glistening,  and  his  right 
hand  vehemently  beating  the  open  palm  of  his  left 
as  if  he  were  literally  pulverizing  an  adversary. 
Tossing  himself  back  with  equally  rapid  gesture,  he 
lay  passive,  for  the  space  of  eighty  seconds.  Then, 
with  another  swift  movement  of  the  body,  he  turned 
to  the  colleague  on  the  left,  dashed  his  hand  into  his 
side  pocket  as  if  he  had  suddenly  become  conscious 
of  a  live  coal  secreted  there,   pulled  out  a  letter, 


238  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

opened  it  with  violent  flick  of  extended  forefingers, 
and  earnestly  discoursed  thereon. 

Rising  presently  to  answer  a  question  addressed  to 
him  as  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  he  instantly 
changed  his  whole  bearing.  His  full  rich  voice  was 
attuned  to  conversational  tone.  The  intense,  eager 
restlessness  of  manner  had  disappeared.  He  spoke 
with  exceeding  deliberation,  and  with  no  other  ges- 
ture than  a  slight  outward  waving  of  the  right  hand, 
and  a  courteous  bending  of  the  body  in  recognition 
of  his  interlocutor.  The  mere  change  of  position, 
the  contact  of  his  feet  with  the  solid  earth,  seemed, 
as  was  usually  the  case,  to  have  steadied  him  and 
re-endowed  him  with  full  self-possession.  Often  in 
angry  debates  one  has  seen  him  bounding  about  on 
the  Front  Bench  apparently  in  uncontrollable  rage, 
loudly  ejaculating  contradiction,  violently  shaking 
his  head,  and  tendering  other  evidence  of  lost  tem- 
per, hailed  with  hilarious  laughter  and  cheers  from 
gentlemen  opposite.  Finally  springing  to  his  feet 
with  a  fierce  bound,  he  has  stood  at  the  table  motion- 
less and  rigid,  whilst  the  House  rang  with  the  tumult 
of  cheers  and  the  bray  of  hostile  clamor.  When  the 
Speaker  authorized  his  interru])tion  it  seemed  as  if 
the  devil  of  unrest  were  thereby  literally  cast  out. 
He  suddenly  became  himself  again,  and  in  quiet 
voice  set  forth  in  admiraljly  chosen  language  a 
weighty  objection. 

On  the  night  to  which  these  notes  refer  the  debate 
was  resumed  by  Lord  Randol])li  Churchill,  who,  then 


IN   THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  239 

seated  below  the  gangway,  irresponsible  and  irre- 
pressible, had  enjoyed  an  hour  of  perfect  pleasure. 
With  eye  watchfully  fixed  on  the  mobile  figure 
stretched  out  in  the  seat  of  the  Leader  of  the  House, 
he  pricked  and  goaded  him  as  the  sprightly  matador 
in  the  arena  girds  at  the  infuriate  bull  which,  if  it 
were  only  intelligently  to  expend  its  force,  could 
tear  the  human  mite  into  unrecognizable  shreds.  At 
first  the  Premier  assumed  an  attitude  of  ordinary 
attention,  with  legs  crossed,  hands  folded  so  that 
they  caressed  either  elbow.  He  threw  back  his  head 
so  as  to  rest  it  on  the  back  of  the  bench,  and  closed 
his  eyes,  the  light  from  the  roof  falling  on  a  per- 
fectly placid  countenance.  As  Lord  Randolph  went 
on  with  quip  and  crank,  audacious  accusation  and 
reckless  misrepresentation  of  fact  or  argument,  he 
uplifted  his  head,  shuffled  his  feet,  crossed  and 
recrossed  his  hands,  and  fixed  an  angry  eye  on  the 
delighted  tormentor.  The  potion  was  beginning  to 
work,  and  jeering  cries  from  Conservatives  above  the 
gangway  or  howls  from  the  Irish  camp,  at  the  gates 
of  which  Lord  Randolph's  standard  was  at  that  time 
planted,  added  to  its  efficacy. 

Soon  Mr.  Gladstone  began  to  shake  his  head  with 
increased  violence  as  Lord  Randolph  repeated  a 
statement  thus  contradicted.  Louder  grew  the  irri- 
tating cheers  from  the  Opposition.  The  triumphant 
whisper  went  round,  "Randolph's  dra^^ing  him!" 
Excited  by  the  tumult,  and  vainly  trying  to  lift  his 
still  mighty  voice  above  the  uproar,  Mr.   Gladstone, 


240  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

seating  himself  perilously  near  the  edge  of  the  seat, 
bending  forward  and  grasping  himself  somewhere 
below  the  knee,  leant  across  towards  the  more-than- 
ever-delighted  adversary,  angrily  reiterating  "No, 
no,  no ! "  A  pitiful  and  undignified  demonstration 
on  the  part  of  the  Prime  Minister,  which  was  exactly 
what  Lord  Randolph  Churchill  was  endeavoring  to 
bring  about,  his  success  hailed  with  increasing 
cheers  by  the  pleased  Opposition. 

When  Lord  Randolph  had  made  an  end  of  speak- 
ing Mr.  Gladstone  sprang  up  with  catapultic  celerity. 
For  a  moment  he  held  on  to  the  box  at  arm's-length, 
drawing  himself  up  to  fullest  height  with  a  genial 
smile  on  his  countenance  that  completed  the  contrast 
with  his  late  perturbed  manner.  Once  more  he  was 
himself,  his  supremacy  over  the  House,  lost  through, 
the  lamentable  exhibitions  but  just  witnessed,  imme- 
diately reassumed  with  his  self-command.  Now  was 
witnessed  exhibition  of  that  skill  which  Mr.  Lcckv 
noted  in  Pitt.  Like  Pitt  —  as  far  as  opportunity  of 
judgment  is  possessed  by  the  present  generation, 
infinitely  beyond  Pitt  —  "no  one  knows  better  how 
to  turn  and  retort  arguments,  to  seize  in  a  moment 
on  a  weak  point  or  an  unguarded  phrase."  In  half 
a  dozen  sentences  of  exquisitely  modulated  speech 
Mr.  Gladstone,  with  the  delitihtful  benevolence  with 
which  Gulliver  was  able  to  refrain  from  resenting 
the  pricking  of  the  lance  of  Lilliput's  doughtiest 
cham])ion,  ])layed  with  Lord  Rnndolph,  and  finally 
rolled  him  aside,  turning  his  attention,  as  he  said, 
to  more  serious  matters. 


IN   THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  2-11 

This  was  all  very  well  to  begin  with.  But  warm- 
ing with  his  work,  the  Premier  proceeded  through  a 
series  of  gymnastic  exercises  that  would  have  left  an 
ordinary  man  of  half  his  years  pale  and  breathless. 
Watching  him  as  he  brought  down  his  strong  right 
hand  with  resounding  blows  upon  the  Blue  Book 
from  which  he  had  just  quoted,  new-comers  to  the 
House  understood  the  fervency  with  which  Mr. 
Disraeli  once  thanked  God  that  the  table  intervened 
between  him  and  his  lifelong  rival.  So  vigorous 
were  the  thumps  that  it  was  with  difficulty  the  words 
they  were  intended  to  emphasize  could  be  caught. 
The  famous  pomatum  pot,  which  plays  a  prominent 
part  on  these  occasions,  had  an  exceedingly  bad 
time.  Mr.  Gladstone's  eye  falling  upon  it  as  he 
fiercely  gyrated,  he  seized  it  with  sudden  gesture, 
brought  it  to  his  lips  with  swift  movement,  and 
devoured  a  portion  of  its  contents  as  if,  instead  of 
being  an  innocent  compound  of  egg  and  wine,  it  were 
concentrated  essence  of  Lord  Randolph  Churchill 
conveniently  prepared  with  the  view  to  his  final 
disappearance  from  the  scene.  Sometimes  with 
both  hands  raised  rigid  above  his  head;  often  with 
left  elbow  leaning  on  the  table  and  right  hand 
with  closed  fist  shaken  at  the  head  of  some  inolfend- 
ing  country  gentleman  on  the  back  benches  opposite ; 
anon  standing  half  a  step  back  from  the  table,  with 
the  left  hand  hanging  at  his  side  and  the  right  up- 
lifted so  that  he  might  with  thumb-nail  lightly  touch 

the  shining  crown  of  his  head,  he  trampled  his  way 

16 


242  MR.    GLADSTONE, 

through  the  arguments  of  the  adversary  as  an  ele- 
phant in  an  hour  of  aggravation  rages  through  a 
jungle. 

It  is  no  new  thing  for  great  orators  to  have  extrav- 
agant gestures.  Peel  had  none,  Pitt  but  few, 
and  these  monotonous  and  mechanical.  But  Pitt's 
father,  the  great  Chatham,  knew  how  to  flash  his 
eagle  eye,  to  flaunt  his  flannels,  and  strike  home 
with  his  crutch.  Brougham  once  dropped  on  his 
knees  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  with  outstretched 
hands  implored  the  Peers  not  to  reject  the  Reform 
Bill.  Fox  was  sometimes  moved  to  tears  by  his  own 
eloquence.  Burke  on  a  famous  occasion  brought  a 
dagger  on  the  scene.  Sheridan,  when  nothing  else 
was  to  be  done,  knew  how  to  faint ;  whilst  Grattan 
used  to  scrape  the  ground  with  his  knuckles  as  he 
bent  his  body,  and  thank  God  he  had  no  peculiari- 
ties of  gesture.  But  in  respect  of  originality,  multi- 
plicity, and  vehemence  of  gesture,  Mr.  Gladstone,  as 
in  some  other  things,  beat  the  record  of  human 
achievement. 

Travelling  in  Sicily  in  the  winter  of  1838,  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  much  struck  with  the  ruined  temples 
that  abound  in  the  island.  In  his  journal  of  this 
date,  he  writes:  "They  retain  their  beauty  and  their 
dignity  in  their  decay,  representing  the  great  man 
when  fallen,  as  types  of  that  almost  highest  of  human 
qualities  —  silent,  yet  not  sullen,  endurance."  This 
is  a  type  of  greatness  of  which  it  must  be  admitted 
Mr.   Gladstone  docs  not  furnish  a  specimen.     There 


IN   THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  243 

is  no  period  in  his  history  more  fairly  open  to  ani- 
madversion than  that  immediately,  and  for  some 
time,  following  upon  his  fall  from  power  in  1874. 
He  had  hitherto  something  more  than  led  the  Liberal 
party.  He  had,  if  need  were,  even  dragged  or  driven 
them.  He  was  inseparably  bound  up  with  their  for- 
tunes, and  it  is  a  nice  question  how  far  he  was  at 
liberty,  when  abysmal  distress  followed  upon  a  period 
of  exceptional  prosperity,  calmly  to  cut  himself 
adrift.  The  arrangement  whereby  Lord  Hartington 
succeeded  him  in  the  Leadership  was  not  altogether 
hopeless,  if  Mr.  Gladstone  had  carried  out  in  the 
letter  and  in  the  spirit  the  intention  of  withdrawing 
from  active  participation  in  politics,  announced  in 
his  epistle  to  Earl  Granville.  But  his  temperament 
was  not  suited  for  the  exhibition  of  silent,  yet  not 
sullen,  endurance  extolled  in  the  monuments  of 
ancient  Sicil3\  Even  in  the  first  Session  of  the  new 
Parliament  he  succeeded  in  introducing  a  disturbing 
feature  in  political  warfare.  No  one  knew  exactly 
at  what  hour,  or  in  respect  of  what  question  he 
might  not  suddenly  appear  —  as  he  did  on  the  second 
reading  of  the  Public  Worship  Bill  —  and  upset  all 
calculation  and  all  arrangement.  This  habit  grew 
in  intensity  in  the  following  Session,  and  Mr.  Glad- 
stone came  to  be  more  terrible  to  his  political  friends 
than  to  the  party  opposite.  It  was  all  very  well  for 
the  Liberals  to  meet  in  the  Smoke-room  of  the 
Reform  Club,  and  elect  Lord  Hartington  leader,  vice 
Mr.   Gladstone  retired  from  politics.     It  would  have 


244  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

been  just  as  efficacious  for  the  solar  system  to  meet 
and  elect  the  moon  to  rule  by  day,  vice  the  sun 
resigned.  Mr.  Gladstone's  erratic  appearances  in 
the  political  firmament  were  sufficient  temporarily 
to  dispose  of  the  titular  Leader  of  the  Liberals,  and 
to  set  the  whole  system  once  more  revolving  round 
himself. 

In  1876  his  energies  found  a  wider  and  a  worthier 
field  in  vindication  of  the  right  of  the  Bulgarians  to 
be  delivered  from  pillage  and  murder.  He  threw 
himself  into  the  cause  of  this  oppressed  nationality 
with  as  much  enthusiasm  and  energy  as  a  quarter  of 
a  century  earlier  he  had  undertaken  to  plead  for  the 
enchained  Neapolitans.  He  finally  threw  off  the 
thin,  though  honestly  assumed,  mask  of  retirement, 
and  flung  himself  body  and  soul  into  the  conflict. 
The  sudden  awakening  of  energy  then  shown  was 
surpassed  in  the  last  months  of  1879,  when  he  opened 
the  first  of  the  Midlothian  Campaigns.  On  the  eve 
of  his  seventieth  birthday,  in  the  middle  of  a  winter 
of  unusual  severity,  he  set  out  on  a  triumphal  pro- 
gress. Day  by  day,  sometimes  twice  and  thrice  a 
day,  he  addressed  great  audiences,  often  in  the  open 
air.  Speech  followed  speech,  none  a  repetition  of 
another,  and  all  the  world  agreed  that  never  in 
history  had  there  been  an  equal  dis})lay  of  physical 
and  intellectual  force  from  a  man  whose  years  were 
threescore  and  ten. 

In  this  undertaking,  as  in  all  others  of  his  life, 
Mr.  Gladstone  was  moved  by  a  strong,  high  passion. 


IN   THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  245 

free  from  the  dross  of  ignoble  motive.  Many  dis- 
trusted and  even  abhorred  the  politician.  All 
admired  the  man.  To  his  contemporaries,  the  con- 
templation of  his  life  is  like  a  study  of  one  of 
Turner's  pictures  made  by  a  man  with  his  nose  an 
inch  off  the  canvas.  Attention  is  arrested  by  details 
not  always  attractive.  They  see  strong  mannerisms, 
and  marvel  at  what  they  call  eccentricities.  To 
posterity  Mr.  Gladstone's  life  will  be  as  this  same 
picture  regarded  at  due  distance,  the  lurid  colors 
softened,  the  angularities  rounded  off,  the  master- 
piece revealed  in  its  incomparable  excellence. 

Besides  giving  him  a  phenomenal  physical  constitu- 
tion, nature  was  lavish  to  Mr.  Gladstone  in  other  ways. 
Education,  association,  and  instinct  early  led  him 
into  the  political  arena,  where  he  immediately  made 
his  mark.  But  there  are  half  a  dozen  other  profes- 
sions he  might  have  embarked  upon  with  equal  cer- 
tainty of  success.  Had  he  followed  the  line  one  of 
his  brothers  took,  he  would  have  become  a  prince 
among  the  merchants  of  Liverpool.  Had  he  taken 
to  the  legal  profession  he  would  have  filled  tlie 
courts  with  his  fame.  Had  he  entered  the  Church 
its  highest  honors  would  have  been  within  his  grasp. 
If  the  stage  had  allured  him  the  world  would  have 
been  richer  by  another  great  actor  —  an  opportunity 
some  of  his  critics  say  not  altogether  lost  in  the 
political  arena.  In  addition  to  the  gifts  of  a  mobile 
countenance,  a  voice  sonorous  and  flexible,  and  a  fine 
presence,  Mr.  Gladstone  possesses  dramatic  instincts 


246  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

frequently  brought  into  play  in  House  of  Commons 
debate  or  in  his  platform  speeches.  In  both,  his  ten- 
dency was  rather  towards  comedy  than  tragedy.  It 
was  the  fashion  to  deny  him  a  sense  of  humor,  —  a 
judgment  that  could  be  passed  only  by  a  superficial 
observer.  In  private  conversation  his  marvellous 
memory  gave  forth  from  its  apparently  illimitable 
store  an  ajDpropriate  and  frequently  humorous  illus- 
tration of  the  current  topic.  If  his  fame  had  not 
been  established  on  a  loftier  line  he  would  be  known 
as  one  of  the  most  delightful  conversationalists  of 
the  day. 

It  is  in  this  respect  that  his  tirelessness  habitually 
amazed  those  who  came  in  contact  with  him.  Ordi- 
nary men  of  half  his  age,  having  spent  themselves  in 
oratorical  effort,  are  glad  to  benefit  by  a  brief  period 
of  seclusion  and  rest.  Mr.  Gladstone,  like  all  great 
workers,  found  recreation  in  change  of  employment. 
Asked  once  what  was  the  secret  of  his  long  impreg- 
nable vitality,  he  quaintly  answered,  "  There  was  a 
road  leading  out  of  London  on  which  more  horses 
died  than  on  any  other.  Inquiry  revealed  the  fact 
that  it  was  perfectly  level.  Consequently  the  ani- 
mals in  travelling  over  it  used  only  one  set  of 
muscles." 

Ilis  contributions  to  literature,  extending  over  a 
period  of  nearly  sixty  years,  arc  prodigious  in  quantity. 
His  earliest  efforts  appeared  in  the  Eton  Miscellany^ 
which,  in  the  year  1827,  he  mainly  kept  going,  writ- 
ing under  the  pseudonym  "  Bartholomew  Bouverie." 


IN   THE  HOUSE  AND   OUT.  247 

Since  then  he  has  written  pamphlets  and  books,  the 
mere  enumeration  of  which  fills  twenty-two  pages  in 
the  catalogue  of  the  British  Museum.  "The  State 
in  its  Relations  with  the  Church,"  published  in 
1838,  remains  the  most  famous.  The  work  that  had 
the  largest  circulation  is  the  pamphlet  on  "The 
Vatican  Decrees."  This  ran  into  110  editions,  and 
was  translated  into  several  foreign  languages.  The 
pamphlet  on  the  "  Bulgarian  Horrors,"  published  in 
1876,  ran  "The  Vatican  Decrees"  close,  over  80,000 
copies  being  sold.  Whilst  still  busy  with  the  Bul- 
garian atrocities,  paving  the  way  for  the  great 
triumph  at  the  polls  in  1880,  he  brought  together 
what  he  called  "Gleanings  of  Past  Years,"  being  a 
reprint  in  seven  volumes  of  the  articles  he  had 
between  1843  and  1878  contributed  to  various  re- 
views and  quarterlies.  On  the  very  day  he  for  the 
last  time  took  leave  of  his  colleagues  in  Cabinet 
Council,  he  turned  to  put  the  finishing  touches  to  his 
translation  of  the  "Odes  of  Horace." 

Mr.  Gladstone's  personality  is  one  that  could  not 
fail  to  fascinate  the  public.  Politics  apart,  he  was 
irresistible.  The  tendency,  equally  compulsory, 
moved  in  two  directions.  He  was  at  once  the  most 
passionately  loved  and  the  most  fiercely  hated  man 
in  England. 

Some  incidents  illustrating  the  personal  feeling  of 
political  adversaries  have  been  cited.  It  is  pleasing 
to  note  that  in  his  closino:  davs  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons  all  the  asperities  that  at  one  time  pricked  at 


248  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

his  presence  were  smoothed  down.  In  the  final  Ses- 
sion of  the  Parliament  of  1886-92,  there  was  nothing 
more  noticeable  than  the  attitude  of  respect,  almost 
of  deference,  with  which  the  ^linisterial  majority 
l)ore  themselves  towards  the  Leader  of  the  Opposi- 
tion. There  was,  doubtless,  change  on  both  sides. 
Advancing  age  seemed  to  have  mellowed  the  great 
Parliamentary  fighter.  Moreover,  the  Conservative 
party  were  in  this  respect  fortunate  in  their  Leader. 
Mr.  Gladstone  always  had  a  strong  personal  liking 
and  admiration  for  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  and  bore 
Iiimself  towards  him,  when  he  came  into  the  Leader- 
ship of  the  House,  with  something  of  a  fatherly  air, 
pretty  to  see,  soothing  amid  the  turmoil  of  faction, 
fight. 

It  is  amongst  the  masses  that  the  fascination  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  personality  works  its  way  with  full- 
est witchery.  In  the  front  rank  of  statesmen,  a 
great  orator,  a  ripe  scholar,  he  is,  they  are  glad  to 
think,  actually  one  of  them.  His  homely  domestic 
life  was  worth  untold  votes  at  a  general  election. 
The  people  liked  to  think  of  him  with  his  plain  pre- 
fix "Mr.,"  of  his  daughters  who  marry  curates  or 
work  in  schools,  his  sons  who  are  "  something  in  the 
City,"  and  do  not  marry  duchesses.  They  liked  his 
stripping  to  the  shirt  to  fell  a  tree,  his  going  to 
church  on  Sundays  and  to  the  theatre  or  concert 
on  Wcdncsdavs  or  Saturdavs.  It  is  what  they  do 
tliemsolves,  or  would  do  if  tliov  had  the  chance. 
He    was   one  of  them,  to  be   trusted,    fought  for  if 


(> 


AV    THE   HOUSE  AND   OUT,  249 

need   be,  always    esteemed   with   a  sort   of   family 
affection. 

There  were  many  manifestations  of  this  intensity 
of  feeling  in  the  last  Midlothian  Campaign.  Poli- 
tics of  course  had  much  to  do  with  drawing  together 
the  multitudes  that  surged  round  the  platform  wher- 
ever Mr.  Gladstone  spoke,  or  in  the  streets,  as  Glas- 
gow filled  on  the  Saturday  afternoon  he  drove  through 
the  city.  More  striking  were  the  demonstrations 
made  in  the  remoter  country  districts  through  which 
he  occasionally  drove.  There  was  no  cottager  too 
poor  to  decorate  his  house  on  the  day  "  Mester  Gled- 
stane  "  was  to  honor  it  by  passing  by.  The  decora- 
tion was  often  only  a  red  cotton  pocket-handkerchief 
or  a  bit  of  ribbon  of  the  Gladstone  color.  But  it 
had  the  value  of  being  home-made  and  spontaneous. 
An  old  lady,  housekeeper  at  a  lodge  in  Haddington- 
shire, told  me  in  her  musically  spoken  Doric  a  little 
story  which,  better  than  pages  of  narrative  or  analy- 
sis, illustrates  the  hold  Mr.  Gladstone  has  on  the 
common  people. 

"An  auld  man,  Geordie  Paul,"  she  said,  ''lived 
all  alane  in  a  wee  cot  up  there,"  pointing  to  a  liill 
close  by.  "He  used  to  sit  at  his  door  reading  the 
paper  spread  on  his  knee,  and  mony  's  the  time, 
when  he  thoucht  naebody  was  looking,  I  've  seen 
him  greetin',  and  the  tears  drapt  doon  on  the  paper, 
and  he  aften  muttered  to  himseF  '  To  think  they  'd 
use  Gledstane  sae  ill  and  he  sic  a  man ! '  The  nicht 
afore  Geordie  deed  I  gaed  in  to  see  what  I  could  dae 


250  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

for  him.  There  he  was,  sitting  in  the  corner  o'  his 
bed  sae  weak  he  could  na  get  on  more  than  ane  arm 
o'  his  jacket,  but  he  had  the  paper  propped  up 
against  the  ither  (upside  doon),  and  the  last  words 
he  said  to  me  were  :  '  There  's  ae  (one)  thing,  Liz  ;  if 
I  could  only  see  that  Irish  question  settled ! '  " 

The  poor  man  knew  little  about  the  Irish  question, 
the  intricacies  of  which  have  baffled  more  fully  cul- 
tivated persons.  But  he  knew  that  "  Mester  Gled- 
stane  "  had  made  the  question  his  own,  had  devoted 
the  closino^  davs  of  his  life  to  its  settlement.  That 
was  enough  for  the  Scottish  cotter,  with  his  dimmed 
eyes  turned  upon  his  newspaper,  searching  in  its 
blurred  columns  if  peradventure,  before  they  finally 
closed,  they  might  alight  upon  some  indication  of 
the  accomplishment  of  his  hero's  heart's  desire. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  table  talk  was  so  charming  that 
any  company  privileged  to  hear  it  might  well  be 
content  that  he  should  monopolize  the  conversation. 
But  while  when  he  sat  at  meat  he  was  naturally  the 
centre  of  interest,  and  rarely  disappointed  expecta- 
tion by  indulging  in  taciturnity,  there  was  no  sense 
of  his  monopolizing  conversation,  as  was  the  case 
with  Coleridge  or  Macaulay.  His  remarks  did  not 
take  the  form  of  monologue.  They  were  really  con- 
versation. He  did  not  even  lead  the  topics,  habitu- 
ally enlarging  on  some  chance  remark  dro})i)ed  ny 
one  of  the  circle.  But,  whatever  the  subject,  how- 
ever great  the  authority  who  floated  it,  it  generally 
turned  out  that  Mr.    Gladstone  knew  more  about  it 


IN   THE   HOUSE  AND   OUT.  251 

than  any  one  in  the  room.     Where  he  was  most  in- 
teresting was  in  his  reminiscences  of  the  men  he  had 
worked  with   during  the   hist  half-century,    and    of 
episodes  in  the  history  he  helped  to  make.     He  loved 
to  talk  about  Sir  Robert  Peel,  for  whom  to  the  last 
he  preserved  some  of  the  veneration  with  which  he 
approached  him  when  he  was  still  a  young  man  and 
Peel  was  in  his  prime.     On  one  night  that  dwells  in 
the  memory  he  talked  much  more  genially  of  Disraeli 
than  was  his  wont.     Admiration  of  his  ability  was 
generally  handicapped  by  distrust  of  his  moral  char- 
acteristics and  dislike  of  his  tactics.     On  this  night 
he  was  unsparing  in  his  praise,  even  invented  a  new 
word  in  his  honor.      "  He  was,"  he  said  emphatically, 
"the   greatest   sarcast    that   ever   spoke   in    Parlia- 
ment ;  "  and  forthwith  he  rattled  off  half  a  dozen  of 
"Dizzie's"   phrases,    some  of  them  famous,    all    of 
which  he  had  heard.     It  is  to  be  hoped  he  never 
heard  one,  not  the  least  clever,  which  the  late  Car- 
dinal Manning  made  a  note  of:  "You  surprise  me,'' 
said    Lord    Beaconsfield,    when    Manning   had    been 
comparing   what  he  regarded   as  the   calm,    broad- 
balanced  Gladstone  of  an  earlier  day  and  the  Glad- 
stone of  later  years.     "  I  thought  he  had  always  been 
an  Italian  in  the  custody  of  a  Scotchman." 

Mr.  Gladstone's  memory  was  simply  phenomenal. 
At  a  touch,  at  the  sound  of  a  name,  everything  came 
back  to  him  —  time,  place,  date,  every  circumstance, 
as  if  it  all  passed  only  yesterday,  whereas,  it  may 
be,    the   incident   happened   forty   years    ago.      An 


252  MR.   GLADSTONE. 

admirable  raconteur,  he  brought  to  the  art  the  gifts 
of  a  rich,  deep,  musical  voice,  and  singular  mobility 
of  features.  He  had  the  most  wonderfully  expres- 
sive face  a  man's  soul  ever  looked  forth  from.  Its 
varying  light  illumined  every  turn  of  every  sentence 
he  spoke.  Sometimes  it  was  lighted  up  by  merriest 
smiles,  anon  clouded  with  awful  scorn  or  withering 
anger.  In  the  course  of  conversation  on  the  night 
alluded  to,  chance  reference  was  made  to  the  period 
of  the  union  between  England  and  Ireland.  Mr. 
Gladstone,  following  out  the  train  of  thought,  related 
some  episode  in  the  Parliamentary  negotiations,  and 
then,  his  eyes  flashing  under  frowning  brows,  and 
slowly  shaking  his  head,  he  said  in  deep,  grave  tones : 
"It  was  a  bad  business, — a  bad  business.'*  Evi- 
dently this  crime,  nearly  a  century  old,  was  as  fresh 
in  his  mind  as  if  it  had  been  committed  that  morn- 
ing, and  reflection  upon  it  gave  him  as  much  pain  as 
if  he  now  realized  it  for  the  first  time. 

In  a  capacity  for,  and  a  habit  of,  throwing  all  his 
soul  and  body  into  whatever  business  he  undertook, 
probably  lay  the  secret  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  command- 
ing force  and  influence.  Whatever  he  chanced  to  be 
doing  or  discussing  at  a  particular  moment  was 
regarded  by  him  as  a  matter  worthy  the  concentra- 
tion of  the  whole  of  his  forces.  A  striking  instance 
of  this  finds  record  in  an  account  given  by  Mr. 
Bainos  of  his  forty  years  at  the  Post  Office.  "Mr. 
Scudamore  told  me,"  Mr.  Baines  writes,  "as  instan- 
cing Mr.  Gladstone's  power  of  rapidly  assimilating 


IN  THE   HOUSE   AND   OUT.  253 

information,  that  being  one  day  summoned  to  the 
Treasury  for  the  purpose,  he  spent  an  liour,  between 
two  and  three  o'clock,  in  explaining  verbally  to  the 
Chancellor  the  intricate  details  of  the  scheme  for  the 
transfer  of  telegraphs  as  finally  arranged  at  the  Post 
Office.  At  three  o'clock  Mr.  Gladstone  said  that  he 
must  then  break  off  the  conference,  as  he  had  to  think 
over  what  had  been  told  him  and  be  at  the  House  by 
four.  An  hour  or  two  later  he  explained  to  the  House 
of  Commons,  m  Mr.  Scudamore's  hearing,  the  whole 
plan,  principles  and  details  included,  in  a  luminous 
speech,  from  which  not  a  single  item  of  information 
essential  to  its  complete  exposition  was  omitted.'* 

Mr.  Gladstone  remained  to  the  end  what  he  was 
even  in  Mr.  Bright's  prime,  the  finest  orator  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  In  sheer  debating  power  he 
was  perhaps  excelled  by  Mr.  Chamberlain,  who, 
with  not  less  of  his  adroitness  and  command  of 
language,  has  a  way  of  going  straight  to  a  point  and 
hammering  it  down,  which  Mr.  Gladstone,  allured 
by  by-paths  of  illustration  and  commentary,  some- 
times failed  to  find.  But  when  it  came  to  lofty  and 
sustained  oratory  Mr.  Gladstone  was  unapproach- 
able. This  was  shown  in  half  a  dozen  wavs.  One, 
peculiar  and  convincing,  appeared  in  connection 
with  the  duty  which  from  time  to  time  calls  upon  a 
Leader  of  the  House  to  lament  the  death  of  an  emi- 
nent member.  Mr.  Disraeli  felt  the  difficulty  of 
this  situation  so  acutely  that  on  a  famous  occasion 
he   borrowed    from    a   French    statesman    when    he 


254  MR.    GLADSTONE. 

desired  to  pronounce  a  eulogy  at  the  grave  of  an 
English  captain.  Mr.  Bright,  when  he  rose  to  speak 
to  the  House  of  Commons  of  his  dead  friend  Cob- 
den,  was  movingly  eloquent.  But  it  was  the  elo- 
quence of  broken  speech  and  faltering  tongue.  One 
occasion  on  which  this  duty  was  performed  in  the 
House  of  Commons  by  Mr.  Gladstone  followed  upon 
the  death  of  John  Bright,  and  as,  owing  to  peculiar 
circumstances,  an  unusually  large  number  of  mem- 
bers took  part  in  the  scene,  there  was  fuller  oppor- 
tunity of  estimating  the  difficulties  of  the  situation. 
Mr.  Gladstone  at  the  outset  instinctively  touched  the 
right  chord,  and  throughout  his  speech  played  upon 
it,  satisfying  the  exacting  taste  of  the  audience. 

It  was  in  hours  like  this  the  House  of  Commons 
saw,  through  the  haze  of  party  conflict,  how  noble 
were  the  proportions  of  the  figure  that  dwelt  amongst 
it  for  more  than  fifty  years.  In  a  fine  passage  in  a 
speech  delivered  at  Birmingham  in  June,  1885,  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  little  dreaming  what  a  year  might 
bring  forth,  described  Mr.  Gladstone's  position  in 
words  that  leave  nothing  more  to  be  said :  — 

"  I  Pometimes  think  that  great  men  arc  like  great  mountains, 
and  that  we  do  not  appreciate  their  magnitude  while  we  are 
still  close  to  them.  You  have  to  go  to  a  distance  to  see  which 
peak  it  is  that  towers  above  its  fellows ;  and  it  may  be  that 
we  shall  have  to  put  between  us  and  Mr.  Gladstone  a  space 
of  time  before  we  shall  know  how  much  greater  he  has  been  than 
any  of  his  competitors  for  fame  and  power.  I  am  certain  that 
justice  will  be  done  to  him  in  the  future,  and  I  am  not  less  cer- 
tain that  there  will  ])e  a  signal  condemnation  of  the  men  who, 
moved  by  motives  of  party  spite,  in  their  eagerness  for  oflice, 


IN   THE   HOUSE  AND   OUT.  255 

have  not  hesitatctl  to  load  with  insult  and  indignity  the  greatest 
statesman  of  our  time  ;  who  have  not  allowed  even  his  age  which 
should  have  commanded  their  reverence,  or  his  experience  which 
entitles  him  to  their  respect,  or  his  high  personal  character  or 
his  long  services  to  his  Queen  and  to  his  country,  to  shield  him 
from  the  vulgar  affronts  and  the  lying  accusations  of  which  he 
has  nightly  been  made  the  subject  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
He,  with  his  great  magnanimity,  can  afford  to  forget  and  for- 
give these  things.  Those  whom  he  has  served  so  long  it  behooves 
to  remember  them,  to  resent  them,  and  to  punish  them." 


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